Tag Archives: housing crisis

CKMS News – 2023-12-22- Cambridge council votes against investigating affordable home builds above city parking lots

CKMSNews-2023-12-22-Cambridge Rejects Affordable Housing in Parking Lots Study

by: dan kellar

Cambridge – Joined by 4 city councilors on December 19th, Cambridge mayor Jan Liggett voted against a motion to investigate the plausibility building affordable housing in raised buildings above city owned parking lots.

The motion, brought forward by ward 7 councilor Scott Hamilton was supported by all the delegates who presented at the meeting including resident Matthew Rodgers, the advocacy groups “Citizens for Cambridge”, “For the City”, and “Waterloo Region Yes In My Backyard”, and as stated by councilor Earnshaw, the Cambridge Business Improvement Association was also on board.

Despite strong support for the motion from delegates, and the voting support of councilors Kimpson, Earnshaw,  Roberts, and Hamilton, the motion was ultimately defeated, wIth Mayor Liggett suggesting churches should be converting their own parking lots for housing.  Before calling the vote, Liggett stated that voting “no” does not mean that a councilor is against building affordable housing.

Waterloo Region all-councils meeting ends a difficult year on a note of hope

This year has been another year full of frustration, if not outright despair, for housing in Waterloo Region. But at the all-councils meeting on December 15, Build Now Waterloo Region offered some hope.

Build Now Waterloo Region is a new local collaboration of for-profit and not-for profit groups which was announced back in July.  The objective of the coalition is to build 10,000 non-market and perpetually non-profit homes by 2030.

Philip Mills, the chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region, one of the central players in this initiative, updated the all-council’s meeting on this ground-breaking project.

Of these 10,000 homes, 7,000 will be available for purchase and 3,000 will be available for rent.  A one bedroom home is set to sell for $280,000, a two bedroom for $330,000 and a three bedroom for $400,000. This project will specifically prevent ‘flipping,’ investment property acquisition, or other profit-seeking schemes.

The people versus a developer: Kitchener City Council defers tough decision

The rental housing crisis was on full display in front of Kitchener City Council on Monday night.

A proposed 13-storey mixed-use building at 93-99 Benton Street and 39-43 St. George Street, within the Cedar Hill neighbourhood in Kitchener, would offer 96 new units but would also demolish the 13 current affordable units, evicting the current tenants.

Eric Schneider, Senior Planner at the City of Kitchener laid out what the developer is asking for and the arrangements with the current residents.

The applicant, Ideal Capital Limited from Mississauga, a self-proclaimed ‘premium’ real estate developer, answered Council’s questions and, after their request, indicated he would meet with residents.

Thirteen delegates asked Council to reject this proposal. Delegates included three representatives from a local tenants’ rights group (ACORN WR), several current residents of the townhouses, and neighbours from the Cedar Hill community.

Against several of the delegates’ wishes, City Council chose to defer their decision until the January 22, 2024 meeting.

 

Listen to the show above:

Headlines: Tenants Organising, C-22 finalizing, Solidarity Day Unity Jam, and worst air quality in a decade.

Headlines for Saturday June 17th, 2023 from host dan kellar:

1 – Tenant Union pushes back against “high-pressure” landlord.
The recently launched ACORN Tenant Union of Waterloo Region is organising a demonstration targeting a landlord whom tenants say is trying to renovict all the residents in two buildings who are paying less than market rates.

2 – The Canadian Disability Act finally heading for final approval in the Senate
Disabled folks in Canada may soon receive a bit more support due to the impending approval of Bill C-22.

3 – Indigenous Solidarity Day Unity Jam in Waterloo Park.
With the tag line “Love, Lax, and Land Back”, a Solidarity Day Unity Jam and Lacrosse game, hosted by Protect the Tract, will take place in Waterloo park on June 21st.

4 – Forest fires push Waterloo Region’s air quality to the most dangerous levels in a decade.
Last week’s combination of the smoke from climate change fueled forest fires and a low pressure system off the east coast, led to Waterloo Region suffering its worst air quality levels in at least a decade


This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, Heritage Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.

Check out the archived versions of  this program on radiowaterloo.ca/news., and listen to all the LJI content at canada-info.ca.

If you want to get in touch with comments, or ideas about stories to cover, email us at news@radiowaterloo.ca

CKMS News – 2021-08-14 – Supporting Youth through the housing crisis in KW – Part 2

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Host: Sherice Alishaw

The housing crisis leads to more barriers for the marginalized individuals within our community. Residents are facing an affordable housing crisis in Waterloo region. The low income housing waitlist is almost 6 years until you are able to be offered a unit. Marginalized members of this community are struggling to find and maintain stable housing in this region. 

On this episode of CKMS News, we interview Sandy Dietrich-Bell, CEO of OneROOF a youth shelter in Kitchener. Part 2 of the interview focuses on some solutions to the housing crisis and the barriers that youth  face while trying to obtain stable housing.

This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” grant project and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the Government of Canada and the CKMS Newsroom. 

Check out the archived versions of this program and other episodes on radiowaterloo.ca/news, and other stories commissioned under the Local Journalism Initiative at canada-info.ca

You can follow us on twitter @radiowaterloo. If you want to get in touch with comments, or ideas about stories to cover, email us at news@radiowaterloo.ca

CKMS News – 2021-08-12 – Supporting Youth through the housing crisis in KW – Part 1

download audio

Host: Sherice Alishaw

The housing crisis leads to more barriers for the marginalized individuals within our community. Residents are facing an affordable housing crisis in Waterloo region. The low income housing waitlist is almost 6 years until you are able to be offered a unit. Marginalized members of this community are struggling to find and maintain stable housing in this region. 

On this episode of CKMS News, we interview Sandy Dietrich-Bell, CEO of OneROOF a youth shelter in Kitchener. We discuss the barriers that marginalized members of our community face while trying to obtain stable housing as well as how the community can come together for a solution to this housing crisis. 

This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” grant project and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the Government of Canada and the CKMS Newsroom. 

Check out the archived versions of this program and other episodes on radiowaterloo.ca/news, and other stories commissioned under the Local Journalism Initiative at canada-info.ca

You can follow us on twitter @radiowaterloo. If you want to get in touch with comments, or ideas about stories to cover, email us at news@radiowaterloo.ca