New 14 storey apartment behind Buhler Building |
Parking lot behind Buhler Centre site for apartments |
This will be somewhat of an experiment as social workers have been taking the government to task for warehousing lower income people in buildings that get run down due to the fact that it feels like it isn't doing any favours for those in need. What social workers have proposed is that a few units of every apartment development be designated for lower incomes or geared to income.
There are some that believe that lower income anywhere will be bad. But is this really true? Osborne Village is a mixed income area. You have posh Wellington Crescent condos and lower income rental units in a high density area and what do they call it: Canada's best neighbourhood.
The loss of a surface parking lot for student housing is a very good thing and it will be interesting to see how the experiment pans out. The province says the project is self financing and the University of Winnipeg says they will partner with a co-op to run the place and it won't affect the institution's budget. It is possible this is the model of how to leverage money to get work done that will pay for itself. It remains to be seen.
Still, there needs to be something different than Manitoba Housing done. The province could simply put up a $27 million apartment for strictly lower income and not have the same impact as this project will have.
There will quite a number of people watching the project with a critical eye but it could be something that changes how we approach housing for people in the future.
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