Parkdale is an immigrant rich, ethnically diverse inner-city neighbourhood just six kilometres west of downtown Toronto along the Lake Ontario shoreline. In the 2016 census, 87% of South Parkdale households were renters, with almost two-thirds in buildings 5+ storeys high. Half of these households spend more than one third of their income on rent, 11% live in inadequate dwellings in need of major repairs and 16% are in overcrowded units.
In recent years, a growing number of high-rises have come under the control of a small block of major off-shore real-estate developers and Parkdale, with a population of 22,000, now has one of the highest eviction rates in Toronto. The Neighbourhood Land Trust and its numerous partners are seeking to train tenants as community-based researchers to analyze the current housing crisis in Parkdale.
The Centre’s $48,408 grant will be used to instruct tenant-researchers, boost community participation and mobilize community groups toward the end goals: assessing and then addressing tenant needs by identifying alternative, community-based housing solutions and models to counter the push by foreign investors to radically transform the historic neighbourhood.
Neighbourhood Land Trust, Parkdale Peoples Economy, West Neighborhood House, Parkdale Intercultural Association, Parkdale Community Legal Services, University of Toronto Department of Geography, Innis College School of Cities (part of the Balanced Supply of Housing Node of the CMHC-SSHRC Collaborative Housing Research Network).