Twenty-five years ago, low-income families in Toronto lived in mixed income neighbourhoods, in many parts of the city. Unfortunately that trend appears to be ending. A disturbing new research study recently published by the United Way of Toronto documents the continuing growth of geographical poverty concentration in Toronto and specifically the extent to which the poor of this city are now concentrated vertically in high-rise buildings located in areas of high-poverty. The report, entitled Poverty by Postal Code: Vertical Poverty also shows that living conditions in these buildings are worse than those found in areas where poverty rates are lower.
This troubling report found that the geographic concentration of poverty is most severe in the inner suburbs. Over the last thirty years the number of high-poverty neighbourhoods in Toronto has increased from 30 in 1981 to 136 in 2006. During that same time frame, the number of families living in high-rise buildings who are low-income increased from 25% to 40%. The Report ‘s findings also demonstrate a clear connection between high-poverty levels and worsening housing conditions, with the people living in these buildings experiencing much higher rates of crime such as drug dealing, vandalism and property damage.
The concentration of poverty has led to a cycle of neighbourhood decline and deterioration and poses a great risk to the future livability and prosperity of Toronto. Business closures, deteriorating housing conditions and increased crime are all too common in these neighbourhoods. This will limit Toronto’s ability to attract and keep business investment and provide safe and affordable housing for their workforce. The prosperity of our city depends upon strong, healthy neighbourhoods.
As with my own Senate Committee’s Report In From the Margins: A Call to Action on Poverty, Housing and Homelessness , this Report calls for the federal government to establish a national housing strategy, which would create a foundation upon which adequate, accessible and affordable housing can be provided for all Canadians. Additionally the Report calls for:
· the province to establish a housing benefit that addresses the affordability gap created by rising rents and declining incomes;
· the federal and provincial governments to increase funding for the construction of new non-profit housing;
· the province and City of Toronto implement policies that ensure mixed-income neighbourhoods;
· municipal zoning amendments to permit mixed forms and tenures of housing;
· the City of Toronto, together with partners from the private and nonprofit sectors, to launch economic development programs and opportunities specifically targeted to neighbourhoods with highly concentrated poverty;
· and the City of Toronto continue to take a dedicated program approach to revitalizing the social and physical conditions of aging high-rise apartment buildings across the city, and sustaining this important housing resource for the city’s lower income and newcomer populations.