Time to reframe affordable housing discussion

I live in the south end in a rather old, and one might say cheap, apartment building.  I also work in the periphery of the uptown and am a volunteer for two housing related organizations.  I feel these things give me some insight, and possibly say, in the discussions going on about housing in Saint John’s priority neighbourhoods.

Affordable housing was my go-to topic for much of this blog’s history, and it seems to be coming back to the forefront of the development landscape in this community.  So here I go with another post.

The developer of Tannery Court – a development with 50 units for non-elderly singles proposed for a parking lot off of Queen Street which will receive government subsidies for its units – is indicating that their project is ready to start construction in the next few weeks.

Tannery Court has inspired neighbours and interested groups to think critically about low-income housing.  Neighbours have protested the zoning variances that will get this project rolling with letters, radio interviews and even court appeals.

I have often criticized opponents of housing initiatives as NIMBYs – lobbing this criticism against opponents of Leinster Court.  When I look back on the debate around Leinster Court, it seems a lot of the criticisms were aesthetic-focused; in fact, now, some opponents of Leinster Court have been friends to the Abbey St. Andrew project, another mixed-income housing development slowly making its way into the south end.

I may have, in the past, even labeled opponents of Tannery Court with the go-to acronym for project opponents.

Now when I look at the criticisms of Tannery Court I realize many of those raising concerns appear to be focused on real problems involving the warehousing of poverty.

They may be NIMBYs but many seem to oppose the idea of 50 homogeneous tenants with low incomes being squeezed into one building.  Some seem to want this project in nobody’s backyard.

Still, the project crawls forward.  It may be too late for public opposition to quash this development.

Now is possibly the time to reframe the debate about Tannery Court, to discuss not what’s wrong with the proposal but to instead figure out ways to beat the pitfalls that may come with this type of development.

I don’t think every building needs to have a mix of tenants from each income class.  Instead, I think neighbourhoods should be mixed, with services that benefit a diverse populous.  I understand the argument that putting 50 residents with low incomes into a neighbourhood (my neighbourhood) with high poverty rates will only make things more challenging.  Still, I hope that these challenges can be met.

With the south end and uptown seeing recent gentrification – it’s important to remember that new townhouses and condos are being filled with people who can afford the down-payments on these middle and upper end homes – and perhaps these neighbourhoods are better equipped, now, to absorb and serve the not-so-wealthy. 

I think we need to make sure we are opposing poor development decisions, without opposing our new neighbours.  If shovels hit the ground and 50 low-income residents move it, it is important that residual anger at the developer does not muddy our relationship with the tenants.

We must be diligent to make sure that services needed by our neighbours are delivered in our neighbourhood.  Activist blogger Charles Leblanc has pointed out in the past that Fredericton has lost a number of important services in its downtown core, moving them further from those who need them. We need to avoid this in Saint John.

While we as a neighbourhood might think it would be better if Tannery Court was rethought, we need to make sure it can provide a safe, clean and affordable home to those in need, and that this home provides opportunities and community.

I’ve heard such developments referred to as “band-aid solutions.”  Perhaps mixed-income housing is better able to meet community needs and provide longer-term “social health,” but band-aids can help when situations are dire. We should make sure that this band-aid is kept clean and provides at least some level of healing.