The Halifax Housing Trilogy
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THE HALIFAX HOUSING TRILOGY Three Reports conducted under the auspices of the Affordable Housing Associa�on of Nova Sco�a (AHANS), on behalf of the Affordable Housing Working Group of the Halifax Housing and Homelessness Partnership. • A Characteriza�on of Affordable Rental Housing Neighbourhoods • Housing in Dartmouth North • Reading the Remainder Area NOVEMBER 2017 Community Profiles: A Characterization of Affordable Rental Housing Neighbourhoods. Prepared By: Adriane Salah Overseen by Grant Wanzel, Kasia Tota & Claudia Jahn Affordable Housing Working Group Table of Contents. Introduction .............................................................................................. 1-4 Methodology 2 Indicators 4 Neighbourhoods.........................................................................................5-7 Profile Resources 6 Spryfield ....................................................................................................8-13 Clayton Park .............................................................................................14-19 Penninsula North ........................................................................... ..........20-25 Dartmouth South .......................................................................................26-31 Dartmouth East .........................................................................................32-37 CORE Housing Need Poverty ...................................................................38 Neighbourhood Observations....................................................................39-40 Strengths to Build Upon ............................................................................41 Conclusion .................................................................................................42 Glossary ....................................................................................................43 Sources .....................................................................................................44 Appendix A ................................................................................................45-49 1 Introduction. This report was commissioned by the Affordable Housing Working Group to assist in their work to identify affordable housing neighbourhoods within the metropolitan area of Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). The intent is to provide information on barriers and issues that may threaten the sustainability of these vital neighbourhoods. The Working Group encompasses an array of partner organizations that can all contribute to preserving affordable neighbourhoods, but it is critical to properly reflect and understand an area’s context before taking an initiative. The request of the Working Group was to identify vulnerable affordable housing neighbourhoods throughout HRM by considering rental rates, household incomes, and housing condition. After selecting areas based on Statistics Canada data, a characterization that considers neighbourhood demographics, built form, and services identifies neighbourhoods for further consideration.The purpose of this report is not to present something as wrong, especially when those living there may not agree. Rather, the research aims to identify various dynamics, both inside and out, that may marginalize an area. The word marginalized can have different interpretations, but always refers to the feeling of being excluded and kept on the periphery. Marginalization can have physical and social characteristics, and both have an impact on a neighbourhood and lasting effects on those within it. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Commission (CMHC) defines affordable housing as shelter that costs less than 30% of a households total after-tax income. CMHC uses affordability, adequacy, and suitability indicators to assess households thought to be in CORE need. Although this provides a quantitative assessment that helps identify households and areas in need, it does not account for the social costs of housing poverty, and thus functions as a minimum threshold. By assessing various aspects of a community, this report hopes to begin to bridge that gap. To say home owners can not suffer from housing poverty is false. Some of the highest shelter to income ratios (STIRs) in the municipality are held by owners, which is cause for concern. However, the focus of this report is affordable private market rental housing. This report is not a final assessment of these areas and more research is required. What this report does is unveil factors and indicators at play in each neighbourhood, and the affect they could have on residents. It raises important questions and there are no easy answers. Effective and sustainable actions will not be easy, quick, or one-off, it will require multiple partners and organizations working in collaboration with the community. 2 Methodology. Guiding principles for the research were taken from “What to Make of Housing Poverty in Halifax” by Grant Wanzel for the Affordable Housing Working Group. The report took an in-depth look at housing in HRM and made critical observations of the condition of the current stock, the influence of a household’s income, and the reality of housing poverty in the Municipality. Conclusions from G. Wanzel’s report influenced the methodology and perspective for this research. Part 5: Summary and Conclusion ( 2017, Wanzel, pg. 32-40) 1. Where to Start: Our housing problem, both past and present, is to some extent our own creation. Until we understand it, we won’t eliminate it. 2. Human Rights and Obligations: Food, shelter and community are essential to the well-being of humans. Try as we may to include neighbourhoods where extreme poverty and material deprivation are endemic, the widening gap between them and the common-wealth continues to confound our best efforts. 3. Income Poverty and Housing-Cost-Induced-Poverty: Although results appear the same, forms of housing poverty can originate differently. “Income poverty” imposes a strict regime to find a cheap place to live, using what remains to pay for everything else. “Housing-Cost-Induced-Poverty stems from households choosing a decent convenient place to live that costs a larger portion of their income. 4. The Pinecrest/ Highfield Park Neighbourhood - A Case study: Housing poverty is more than a housing problem. Housing poverty has private and personal, individual and collective impacts. It has environmental, physical, social, psychological, cultural and economic consequences. 5. Parsing the Housing Poverty of Halifax Owners and Renters: Housing poverty is first and foremost a matter of insufficient income. 10. Deep Housing Poverty: Of the 9,865 owners and renter households whose gross household income is less than $10,000, renters outnumber owners 2.75:1. 12. Assessing the “Fit” Between Halifax Renter Housing and Renter Households: There is more to housing poverty than poor housing. Deep housing poverty imposes bare survival, isolation, stigma and social exclusion on its undeserving victims. 14. Renter and Owner Households: CORE Housing Need and Housing Poverty: CORE need brackets a complex condition in the hope of rendering it more manageable. However, “housing poverty” is a more inclusive concept, and encompasses degrees of both “income poverty” and “housing-cost-induced-poverty”. Source: G. Wanzel (2017) 3 History in Brief. Halifax originated as a small port city. Economic growth stemmed from industry and shipbuilding throughout the mid-19th and early 20th century. The city experienced a population boom during WW2 in response to war-time demand. As a result, large housing developments were erected around Halifax and Dartmouth, creating new residential neighbourhoods. The establishment of CMHC in 1946 allowed war veterans and their families to buy homes with low mortgages making ownership easy and popular. Although Federal programs through CMHC helped develop these new neighbourhoods, limited residential planning took place during this time. Large areas throughout the city were under-serviced and sometimes failed to match the growing needs of new households. By the 1950’s Urban Renewal had dominated city planning dialogue. The National Housing Act in 1956 allocated funds to Municipalities to remove “blighted areas” from downtown to create room for new urban development. Halifax became a poster child of the time when A Redevelopment Study of Halifax, by Gordon Stephenson a professor at the University of Toronto, garnered national recognition as a the premiere model of the time. Stephenson had conducted a survey of the housing stock in downtown neighbourhoods, and designated “blighted” areas for urban renewal. This resulted in large scale slum clearance in Halifax and negatively affected low income neighbourhoods around the city, predominantly in the North end of the penninsula. The purpose was to relinquish underutilized land, but resulted in the displacement of impoverished neighbourhoods to insular and poorly built public housing developments such as Uniacke Square, and Mulgrave Park, or to scattered neighbourhoods inconveniently situated outside of the downtown core. Although perceived as progressive tools for urban growth, both urban renewal and public housing developments of that time had long standing impacts on communities and households in the city that are still present today. Suburbanization continued throughout the mid 20th century with population growth exceeding that of the inner city. The Halifax Housing Survey in 1963 and the Regional Development Plan encouraged