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It's quite interesting to look at how the pandemic has affected the housing situation. And it's not all bad news, either!
While seniors' residences were particularly hard hit in the early stages of lockdown, shelters for the homeless fared better. And then other spaces that had been shuttered, like hotels and recreation centres, were repurposed to allow for more physical distancing than had been possible in shelters.
Another untapped or under-tapped resource is student housing. I vividly recall looking for an apartment in London, Ontario, when I needed a place to live while pursuing graduate studies. So many of the decent affordable rental accommodations had snippy little signs in their window with the words "Students need not apply." And no, that didn't mean that you'd be allotted the space automatically, with no need to approach them or cut through any red tape! I must confess that I can't suppress a spasm of Schadenfreude when I think of some of those landlords out there now, who no doubt would be thrilled these days to have a studious-minded, non-party animal like I was back then, wanting to rent one of their units... except that those students are all studying online remotely from their parents' basements!
Anyway, now that vacancy rates are much higher and it's a renters' and buyers' market out there, surely this is an ideal time to address some of our long-standing problems with homelessness and poverty. It's too late for those folks at Heron Gate, but the City of Ottawa, along with various advocacy groups like the Alliance to End Homelessness, is at least making a start on connecting vulnerable people to affordable housing:
https://ottawa.ca/en/news/alliance-end-homelessness-ottawa-and-city-seeking-help-house-100-october
Winter is coming
While seniors' residences were particularly hard hit in the early stages of lockdown, shelters for the homeless fared better. And then other spaces that had been shuttered, like hotels and recreation centres, were repurposed to allow for more physical distancing than had been possible in shelters.
Another untapped or under-tapped resource is student housing. I vividly recall looking for an apartment in London, Ontario, when I needed a place to live while pursuing graduate studies. So many of the decent affordable rental accommodations had snippy little signs in their window with the words "Students need not apply." And no, that didn't mean that you'd be allotted the space automatically, with no need to approach them or cut through any red tape! I must confess that I can't suppress a spasm of Schadenfreude when I think of some of those landlords out there now, who no doubt would be thrilled these days to have a studious-minded, non-party animal like I was back then, wanting to rent one of their units... except that those students are all studying online remotely from their parents' basements!
Anyway, now that vacancy rates are much higher and it's a renters' and buyers' market out there, surely this is an ideal time to address some of our long-standing problems with homelessness and poverty. It's too late for those folks at Heron Gate, but the City of Ottawa, along with various advocacy groups like the Alliance to End Homelessness, is at least making a start on connecting vulnerable people to affordable housing:
https://ottawa.ca/en/news/alliance-end-homelessness-ottawa-and-city-seeking-help-house-100-october
Winter is coming
