HOUSING: Diversity to Meet All Needs
Everyone deserves a dignified, decent, and a safe place to live. It’s a right…and it is achievable!
The key to moving forward is to ensure diversity in our housing stock, in order to meet the diverse needs and capabilities of Saanich residents. Also, we must ensure that our housing initiatives are compatible with and respectful of our natural environment. It is possible! And we need to make sure that our housing options create safe and functional communities that support a range of mobility options - like walking, cycling and transit use. Working together, we can create an “Age-Friendly Livable Community for All”!
Housing Options
The provision of a range of housing types that can accommodate people of different ages, incomes, family structures, and physical and social needs is one of the fundamental elements of creating and maintaining a healthy, inclusive, and sustainable community. As Saanich grows and as family and household characteristics change, a range of housing will be needed to accommodate new residents, meet the changing needs of an aging population, and provide lifestyle choices.
If this is our objective, how do we get there, and what does it look like? It starts with a recognition that this issue is not unique to Saanich, and that long-term solutions must include all of us and all levels of government. Saanich can and should take the lead in pushing for senior levels of government, for example, to get back into the practice of land assembly and working much more diligently with the many not-for-profit housing agencies that are poised to help.
A FEW Examples
I have supported various housing initiatives in Saanich over the past little while that I think provide good examples of what we need…
OLYMPIC VISTA provides 36 supportive studio apartments for seniors over 55+ who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
This was a project that “reused” housing from the Whistler Olympics. Can you tell? The design compliments the neighbourhood, not a box. It is within walking distance of a major centre, Uptown, where many services are located.
For me this project saw a “circular reuse” of buildings, rather than seeing them become landfill, that was sensitively and thoughtfully done to create a place that the senior residents can call “home.”
NIGEL VALLEY – This redevelopment of an older neighbourhood will provide hundreds of new homes for individuals, families, seniors, veterans, people living with disabilities and people with mental health challenges. There will be approximately 440 affordable rental homes, 255 market housing units, 41 long-term care beds, 37 homes with support for seniors and veterans and 25 homes with supports for people with mental health challenges.
A truly diverse community that sets a good example for what can be achieved, with a range of architecture, lots of greenspaces, various heights – a new community that is affordable, accessible, and sustainable.
MOUNT VIEW HEIGHTS – This “community” is located on Carey Road right in the middle of an established neighbourhood. It is just over 8 acres and was a land collaboration with SD61, Saanich and CRD. The site is now owned by the CRD and Capital Regional Hospital District. It encompasses senior care, housing for homeless, affordable family housing and a park. The buildings are diverse in design and use.
VERGO – 18 affordable family 1-2-3 bedroom townhouses
CAREY PLACE – 55 1 bedroom rentals for seniors.
THE HEIGHTS – 260 residental care suites serving seniors with complex care needs.
WESTVIEW – 73 affordable units for seniors, adults with disabilities, working singles and families.
A few examples of “variety” in housing forms…
A range of different housing forms makes for attractive, interesting and healthy communities. Here are a few examples, left to right: a small lot subdivision in an established neighbourhood (provides a separated home, no Strata issues, and close to amenities); a duplex infill (this one created by Habitat for Humanity); a “Boutique” Workforce Rental (can come furnished); a secondary suite cottage (lots of design options); a site that has prioritized tree retention.