I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how lucky I am to experience being both a resident and a change agent in my neighbourhood of Alexandra Park. As our neighbourhood goes through community consultations, design charrettes, and meetings related to the Revitalization of Alexandra Park, I reflect on how working with communities has allowed me to meet great people, learn new things and has given me the great feeling of knowing that I’ve made a difference in someone’s life.

My real-life experience working in my own community and several other communities combined with my background in Urban Planning has strengthened my belief of the importance of an inclusive, bottom-up, participatory approach to developing and strengthening communities.

Building strong communities means going beyond “bricks and mortar” to ensure individual well-being, economic and social inclusion, financial and environmental sustainability, and building on the capital that already exists.  A comprehensive, inclusive approach must be taken in order to ensure healthy communities and shared ownership.  Working with communities is something I truly value and I’ve learned some simple lessons I’d like to share.

I’ve compiled a list of 10 tips that I’ve found to be effective in building strong relationships within communities.

1. Introduce yourself in a friendly way:

• Let people know who you are, where you’re from and why you are there; be yourself

2. Take your time and observe your environment:

• When you are in a new environment, take the time to understand your surroundings. This is important to getting to know the people you are working with

3. Use connecting language and tone:

• Use language that is clear, straightforward  and easily understood by everyone

4. Look for informal leaders in the community:

• Take advantage of this asset. Informal leaders already have the trust and respect of the community, even if they don’t have a formal role

5. Learn from local expertise:

• Though you may be a subject matter expert for the project, be sure to incorporate the knowledge and strengths of the people you are working with – you can learn from the experiences they share with you

6. Work with the community:

• It’s a partnership, where everyone is equally valued
• Have an idea of what you will be working on, but leave room for the community to plan with you
• If there are aspects of the project you want to include, ensure that the people you are working with are onside
• Make sure you are all working together with mutual intentions
• If your partners want to make any changes, be flexible and work together to find alternatives

7. Ensure everyone feels that their voices are heard:

• It’s important to pay attention and listen actively to your partners; wait for them to finish speaking before voicing your view

8. Be honest, accountable and well-intentioned:

• Be truthful and straightforward with your ideas and keep in mind that you will be held accountable for the ideas and actions you put forward

9. Value working with communities:

• Recognizing the value and importance of working with communities depends on  your genuine support and understanding of the positive benefits

10. Use professional judgment:

• Working with communities requires professional judgment; while theory is important, unforeseen circumstances may require that you be practical and use good judgment and common sense to deal with difficult matters as they arise

These tips work. Using them can save time, improve relationships, ensure a seamless and successful partnership and create positive successful outcomes for everyone involved!

On Thursday November 4, I had the pleasure of attending the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto’s (CHFT) annual awards evening at St. Lawrence Hall. This was the 14th year CHFT recognized and celebrated the many accomplishments of its member co-ops.

Among the co-op members waiting to receive their awards were a number of local politicians, including Rosario Marchese (MPP, Trinity Spadina), Adam Vaughan (Toronto City Councillor), Peter Tabuns (MPP, Toronto-Danforth) and Glen Murray (MPP, Toronto Centre).

Co-operatives were honoured for a range of accomplishments. Gardening efforts, for example, were recognized with awards such as the Gardens of Distinction, Outdoor Garden, Vegetable Garden, Rooftop Garden, Hall of Fame Garden and the Combined Garden. There were also awards for newsletters, websites, youth involvement, living in diversity and the achievement of the year, to name a few.

SHSC sponsored the Hall of Fame Garden Award and I was delighted to attend the event as SHSC’s representative and the presenter of the Gardens of Distinction Award. Although I attended the event in an official capacity, I truly enjoy these events on a personal level. I have a long history of involvement with the Co-operative Housing sector, having served on the Ontario Council for almost 8 years, many of those as its President. One of the reasons that I feel so passionately about co-operative housing is because of its focus on its members – the people who make up its community.

Sometimes we in the social housing sector tend to focus on the physical assets (the $40 billion housing stock asset in Ontario) or on property management. It is my belief, however, that while these areas are very important and must continue to be nurtured, we must never lose sight of the people that reside in this housing. Housing is not just “units”, it is people’s homes. If you had the opportunity to view all of the slides showing the numerous gardens I mentioned above, you would undoubtedly see the pride that these co-op members have in their homes and the efforts they are willing to contribute to make their homes and communities better places to live and call home.

To close out this blog, I’d like to note the CHFT staff who marked their 20th anniversary with the organization. They were also recognized at the event. Congratulations to both Angela Calderone and Judith Collins who both have made “people” their focus over the past 20 years.

I am already looking forward to attending next year’s event where CHFT will be introducing a new “Green Award”. To all the members of the co-operatives highlighted last Thursday evening, I salute and commend you for your achievements!

It was almost seven years ago, on August 14, 2003, when a series of power surges caused a cascade of shutdowns at more than 100 generating plants throughout the northeastern U.S. and Ontario. The result was the biggest blackout in North American history with 61,800 megawatts of power lost to over 50 million people. A lot of reliability measures have been implemented and business contingency plans instituted since then but, the demands on our aging grid continues to grow.

Just this past July 5, 2010, at 4:45 p.m. on an extreme heat alert day in Toronto, a rush hour blackout caused traffic chaos. Before the power was restored, the blackout, triggered by a fire at a transformer station, left 250,000 Toronto Hydro customers in the dark.

There is no confirmation yet about the cause and some news outlets (both the CBC and BBC) are indicating that power usage was not the source of the blackout. However, while we await confirmation of the cause, one thing is for sure, we have become air conditioner addicts.

According to Stan Cox, author of Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World, we air condition everything from golf carts to storage rooms and recently, Dubai was looking at air conditioning a popular beach.

Obsession with Air Conditioning

Our obsession with air conditioning is a relatively recent phenomenon. The amount of energy consumed by running residential air conditioners in Canada almost tripled between 1990 and 2007. And to make matters worse, we are entering a cycle of increasing temperatures resulting in ever higher demands on air conditioners which in turn will contribute to our warming climate.

There are however, some important tips for using air conditioners that will result in more efficient energy use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• Set your thermostat at 25°C or higher. Each half-degree setting below 26°C increases your energy consumption by approximately 8%.
• Consider cost-effective conservation measures, such as shading windows from direct sunlight.
• When possible, delay heat-generating activities, such as dish washing or cooking until the evening on hot days.
• Be sure your air conditioner is not blocked.
• Over most of the cooling season (which does not have to start as soon as the snow melts), keep the house closed tight during the day. Don’t let in unwanted heat and humidity.
• Ventilate your rooms at night naturally as weather permits by opening windows to create cross ventilation
• Consider supplementing the air conditioner with fans which will allow you to set the thermostat a few degrees higher.
• If purchasing a new air conditioner consider an ENERGY STAR® model, which use at least 10% less energy.

Looking for more energy saving tips? GLOBE, a leader in bringing energy efficiency to the housing sector, will be launching its Sustainability Toolbox in the coming weeks. For more information on GLOBE, visit www.globeservices.ca

As a fourth year Urban and Regional Planning student at Ryerson University, a housing activist in my community and a part-time employee at SHSC for the past three years, I was already familiar with a lot of the history covered by the City of Toronto Archives rental housing exhibit.

A Public Health Concern

That said, the way the information was presented was unique.  It provided an overview and history of housing in Toronto (using pictures, texts and official documents), making it easy to see the innovations in affordable rental housing in chronological order since the early twentieth century.  At that time, the housing situation had become so bad that the city’s medical officer of health, Dr. Charles Hastings, issued a report declaring it a public health concern.  This report was written in response to Toronto’s booming growth and industrial development, which brought with it the problems of slums, pollution, epidemics, poverty, and ill health in the late nineteenth century.

Since then, the city developed the Regent Park, St. James Town and St. Lawrence neighbourhoods. These developments still exist today and house a large number of Torontonians.  They all started off with good intentions: their goal was to provide rental housing at affordable rates.

The exhibit prompts visitors to take a step back and look at these developments – and decide if the urban planning ideas embedded in them have stood the test of time. As Jessica mentioned in her article, Regent Park, built exclusively to provide affordable housing was a success when it was first built. But the neighbourhood and the design principles used to create it faced criticism as time passed.

The St. Lawrence Neighbourhood

One of the more successful community developments highlighted in the Archives’ exhibit is the revitalization of the St. Lawrence community through the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The community was designed using a unique collaborative approach where the planners were not the ones driving the show – instead all community stakeholders had a say in how this development unfolded. The area features a mix of housing including rental units, condos, co-ops and community housing.

The St. Lawrence neighbourhood is said to be Canada’s most dynamic inner city neighbourhood and it continues to be a success. The exhibit confirmed my belief that the planning principles and the unique approach used to create this neighbourhood should be recognized and used to help plan and design future neighbourhoods.

Last week, Marwa Eldardiry and I, student interns at SHSC, went to the City of Toronto Archives. We were there to visit SHSC’s co-sponsored exhibition, “A New Lease on Life.” The exhibit is a pictorial history of public and private rental development projects in Toronto, depicting how the social housing sector has changed over the years.

As a co-op student from the Corporate Communications program at Seneca College, I am new to the social housing sector. With limited background knowledge in affordable housing, I was impressed with the exhibit’s presentation of Toronto’s history of rental housing. Incorporating numerous illustrations and primary documentation, the exhibit gave me a strong sense of the changes in social housing in over the course of the past 100 years.

Walking in, Marwa and I were welcomed with a large poster explaining: “Although Toronto is known as a ‘city of homes,’ it might just as well call itself a ‘city of renters.’” On the floor, in front of the poster, were two vintage suitcases, which set the tone of the exhibit: renters on the move in 20th century Toronto.

Safer and Healthier Communities in Toronto
A prominent theme that permeated the exhibit was the need to create safer and healthier communities in Toronto. Due to the inadequate living conditions that had been the norm in the city’s past, the city undertook the Regent Park North project in 1947, Canada’s first public housing project. The project marked the start of a public program to end the slums in the city, which emerged in the absence of a public housing system. At the time, this project took a new approach, utilizing the “Garden City” model. The new buildings, designed in an “X” shape, were separated by vast amounts of green space. It was interesting to be able to compare Regent Park’s building planning model, which was a dramatic contrast to the surrounding neighbourhoods. The nearby buildings were side-by-side, with little separation between them. The Bluette’s were the first family to move into Regent Park in March 1949. Alfred Bluette, when first moving in, said that it was, “like walking into a dream.”

However, Regent Park, built exclusively to provide affordable housing, faced criticism as time passed. The city and Regent Park tenants found the project to be ineffective, as it created a social divide, turning Regent Park into a community that became isolated from the city. The inner streets did not connect to main roads and afforded limited access for emergency vehicles and visitors. The area, not being conducive to community building, once again declined.

By attending the exhibit, I learned about the history of affordable housing in Toronto, and how social housing developments have changed over the past century. The exhibit’s examination of Regent Park shows how affordable housing projects in Toronto, and the lessons planners have learned from them, can help pave the way for future developments.

Visit the Exhibition
To learn more about the chronicles of Toronto’s public and private rental developments, visit “A New Lease on Life” exhibition at the City of Toronto Archives.

The exhibition is open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will run until the end of the year.

Watch for Marwa’s blog next week, as she takes a closer look at Toronto’s early development of affordable rental housing.

Well, it’s budget time again! Just got back from a breakfast forum put on by Global Public Affairs at the National Club entitled “Toronto’s Budget: Priorities for 2010” – it was covering the city of Toronto capital budget (the 10-year capital plan totals over $16 billion – http://www.toronto.ca/budget2010/index.htm). Councillor and Budget Chair Shelley Carroll described the budget process and the public consultations that are now underway to get input. They call this “the easy budget” – the operating budget will be the hard one (February, 2010).

A Markham Municipal staff described their zero tax policy – but that it may change in the coming years. The Markham staff person described the Toronto budget as a bellwether for most Municipalities. Bill Davis reminded everyone that wherever the $ seem to come from, they in fact all originate with the same tax payer. I found the debate interesting, and the challenges from Board of Trade on the flaws of the budget process and consultation, as well as the challenges and thoughts on how to raise funds (Peter Kuitenbrouwer of the National Post suggested some ways of raising funds – like selling Metro Hall). It made me think about how reactive budgets can be – Carroll wants to tie the city’s funds to the economy more closely so that as the economy grows, so do the funds. Others commented that this can be flawed in tough times. Either way, this budget is going forward and really is only representative of what is actually done with the money to make a sustainable and prosperous city.

And as I go into my own departmental budgeting process, I gain a new insight into the context in which I work. Social housing budgets are notoriously tight and constrained. To help with managing these dollars, SHSC has tried to provide insight into specific ways in which social housing as a sector can become more efficient and effective. Affordable Housing in Perilous Times is concerned with the framework of spending decisions, regulatory requirements, and housing programs which shape the production of new affordable housing and which protect the existing housing stock, both private and social. Check it out on our website under the SHSC Research section. Stay tuned for more thoughts on budgeting and how and what we do with the funds that fuel our communities.