[Towered]

We haven't had a left-leaning mayor since David Miller. We certainly don't have one now.

42

I'm just saying for the next time we have one, even though it seems unlikely at the moment. Holyday will be waiting in the wings, ready to pounce, and gullible voters will eat up his proven track record of "saving taxpayer's money"...

 

[AlbertC]

On the topic of former mayors, here is John Sewell's commentary on the modular housing plan:

Toronto's modular housing plan is a good idea failing in execution | TRNTO.com

A fine idea for meeting the immediate demand of new affordable housing

trnto.com

 

[Northern Light]

On the topic of former mayors, here is John Sewell's commentary on the modular housing plan:

Toronto's modular housing plan is a good idea failing in execution | TRNTO.com

A fine idea for meeting the immediate demand of new affordable housing

trnto.com

I think his critique is fair.

No one would accuse him of not being progressive.

He's pro public housing.

He's pro modular housing.

His critique is that it's all aimed at singles and all aimed at low-income; and his experience shows, that when that style was built by TCHC in the 70s it didn't work out well.

He's advocating a mix of unit sizes (family units) and 40% market rent.

I find his case persuasive.

The market-rent units also create more cash-flow for additional projects.

 

[innsertnamehere]

I see these types of housing as addressing the homelessness crisis more than it is addressing the affordable housing crisis. These are alternatives to the emergency shelters the city has been constructing - not TCHC types of long term housing.

 

[jje1000]

I see these types of housing as addressing the homelessness crisis more than it is addressing the affordable housing crisis. These are alternatives to the emergency shelters the city has been constructing - not TCHC types of long term housing.

Agreed, and I think the city should be targeting each issue differently. The way I see it, it's a gradient of people slipping towards chronic homelessness rather than there being one big general "homelessness" issue.

1.) Affordable Housing Shortage (People who spend a significant amount of their paycheque on housing):

Emphasis on reducing short-term rental inventory and returning units to market. Finding methods to prevent rapid rental cost increases. Encouraging the construction of more housing inventory in the city, and the improvement/enlargement of the social housing inventory. The goal is to prevent people from slipping into precarious financial situations that allow them to slip into the next category in case their lives get disrupted (i.e. injury, loss of family, loss of job). Projects like Regent Park would be similar to this, and more closely aligned to what Sewell wants.

Source

Can lead to >>>

2.) Temporary Homelessness (People going through a period of homelessness where they can't pay for or find housing):

Construction of short-term housing and improvement of shelter system. Housing here should aim for give the temporarily homeless/susceptible an address, support and shelter, to allow them to pick themselves up and prevent them from slipping into the next category. I think this project, other supportive shelter projects, and the tiny house villages can be categorized here.

Source_______________________________________________________________ Source

Can lead to >>>

3.) Chronic Homelessness (People who cannot get to their feet, or those who prefer street sleeping):

At a basic level, street healthcare to ensure a baseline of health and to prevent the spread of illnesses, but many of these people are suffering from long-term untreated mental and drug addiction issues (long-term stress and drug use can also cause schizophrenic-like conditions). There are even some who have normalized living on the street and prefer it to a house. Many of these people need to be placed in safe environments for their own safety, and to prevent unscrupulous dealers and pimps from taking advantage of them. In this case, I strongly believe in the reintroduction of a reformed institutionalization system, possibly based on 'dementia village' models (controlled environments that offer easy-to-access care, while providing a simulacrum of regular life to provide for the social aspects and to make societal reintegration easier once the healing process is complete).

Source

 

[Northern Light]

I see these types of housing as addressing the homelessness crisis more than it is addressing the affordable housing crisis. These are alternatives to the emergency shelters the city has been constructing - not TCHC types of long term housing.

This too is a legitimate point.

I asked the Housing Now folks for comment and they were more or less in agreement w/your position though their anti-Sewell'ism was remarkably strong, they went so far as to call him a NIMBY which I thought was a bit much.

That said, there is a question to be raised about how much concentration of 'supportive housing' is good.

I think it really depends on the nature of support (mental health/addiction etc.) and how well the housing functions in addressing those needs.

A single person struggling w/mental health and addiction can have an enormous negative impact on a community (including criminal violence).

That certainly is not universally the case, by a long-shot, nor should it be used as basis for mass institutionalization or marginalization.

But I can understand it's a fine line between rational concern and irrational fear; and between making a place in your community for everyone, with the love and support that is required; and allowing a community to be adversely affected by violence or other social ills.

 

[innsertnamehere]

they can, but the classic problem is that where do they live? Stick them in the middle of an industrial area? that isn't exactly dignifying.

The problem is that there isn't an easy, or even really a "right" answer.

Institutionalizing people was the easy way out. 40 years ago we stopped that easy way, and rightfully so. The problem is that the new ways aren't as easy. That's the point.

 

[jje1000]

Institutionalizing people was the easy way out. 40 years ago we stopped that easy way, and rightfully so. The problem is that the new ways aren't as easy. That's the point.

Reforming institutions and transitioning them modern techniques and more sympathetic and dignified treatments that include community integration is the hard way out.

Some degree of deinstitutionalization needed to happen for the less-ill, true, but IMO, the totalizing, one-size-fits-all deinstitutionalization that happened was the easy way out, since it basically allowed governments of the day (i.e. Reagan in California) to wash their hands of the issue under the guise of a laissez-faire approach to the mentally-ill, and also also gave them excuses to defund mental health services at the same time (to look at it one way, institutions were essentially large shelters, huge numbers of beds have been lost since).

Why are so many people with severe mental illness placed inappropriately in our jails and prisons? Davis argues that the current decentralized mental health system has benefited middle-class people with less severe disorders preferentially [20], leaving the majority of people with SMI who are either poor or have more severe illness with inadequate services and a more difficult time integrating into a community. Factors such as high arrest rates for drug offenders, lack of affordable housing, and underfunded community treatments might better explain the high rate of arrests of people with severe mental illness [21]. Emergency rooms are crowded with the acutely ill patients with long psychiatric histories but no plausible dispositions. Patients who are violent, have criminal histories, are chronically suicidal, have history of damage to property, or are dependent on drugs cannot be easily placed. They are often discharged back to the streets where they started.

Deinstitutionalization of People with Mental Illness: Causes and Consequences

Movements to deinstitutionalize people with mental illness and to make institutionalization more legally difficult have resulted in a lack of space and resources for the care of those with severe mental illness, and many have ended up in jails and prisons.

journalofethics.ama-assn.org

The increase in homelessness was seen as related to deinstitutionalization.[8][9][10] Studies from the late 1980s indicated that one-third to one-half of homeless people had severe psychiatric disorders, often co-occurring with substance abuse.[11][12]

A process of indirect cost-shifting may have led to a form of "re-institutionalization" through the increased use of jail detention for those with mental disorders deemed unmanageable and noncompliant.[13][14] When laws were enacted requiring communities to take more responsibility for mental health care, necessary funding was often absent, and jail became the default option,[15] being cheaper than psychiatric care.[13]

In summer 2009, author and columnist Heather Mac Donald stated in City Journal, "jails have become society's primary mental institutions, though few have the funding or expertise to carry out that role properly... at Rikers, 28 percent of the inmates require mental health services, a number that rises each year."[16]

Deinstitutionalization in the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[PMT]

 

[ProjectEnd]

Groundworks start here on Monday. @AlbertC

 

[Towered]

Groundworks start here on Monday. @AlbertC

I take it then that the "community" was not very successful in getting this delayed...

 

[ProjectEnd]

They were not.

 

[AlbertC]

City names two not-for-profit organizations to operate its modular housing initiative | TRNTO.com

One of the modular housing sites is at 150 Harrison St.

trnto.com

The city’s modular housing initiative at 150 Harrison St. and 11 Macey Ave. will now be overseen by two not-for-profit organizations — The Neighbourhood Group (TNG) and COTA Health. The organizations will provide support services this fall under a 35-year term agreement.

“Supportive housing combines affordable housing with coordinated services, and can truly make a difference in peoples’ lives,” said Mayor John Tory. “The pandemic has further highlighted the need for supportive housing, and I am very pleased to be working with The Neighbourhood Group and COTA Health to provide this as part of our modular housing initiative. Leveraging the experience of these two organizations will be critical to creating positive housing outcomes for our residents.”

--------
The Neighbourhood Group (a United Way anchor organization) and COTA Health will jointly provide the residents of the housing projects with mental health support, crisis response plans, 24-hour support, employment opportunities, healthcare, and various other support systems.

“Our goal is to create affordable housing that works for the people who need it most, and we know that providing support is part of the equation for many. That is why our HousingTO 2020-203 action plan calls for providing support services to 18,000 individuals and families through supportive housing,” said deputy mayor Ana Bailao.

Construction at 150 Harrison St. begins today according to HousingNowTO, and the three-storey unit at 11 Macey Ave. is already underway. The two units will house more than 100 homeless people freeing up space at some of the city’s temporary shelters.

 

[AlbertC]

Substantial work did not begin last week yet:

Sept 19, 2020

 

[AlbertC]

They continue to be behind schedule here, especially when comparing what's stated on their info boards:

Oct 4, 2020