Housing is 'real' 2010 legacy

Housing is 'real' 2010 legacy: "It took more than 15 years to assemble the property and three nights of public forums to let everyone have their say, but council finally passed a motion this week to create 1,200 social and supportive housing units on 12 city-owned properties.

'It really is a miracle to have development get underway on all 12 of these sites at the same time,' Mayor Sam Sullivan said.

The City of Vancouver has stepped up with $50 million worth of land and forged a partnership with the provincial housing authority to fast-track design and construction of the buildings.

Half of the buildings could be completed before Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics and nearly all will be under construction by then.

"I think this project is going to be the real legacy of the 2010 Olympics," said Sullivan, who's made homelessness one of his top priorities since becoming mayor two years ago.

"I have told the federal and provincial governments that Vancouver is going to represent the country [in 2010] and I don't think you want the world to see what we've got right now."

The mayor's civil city project to reduce public disorder set a goal of reducing homelessness by 50 per cent before 2010. In 2005, the city's homeless action plan set a goal of creating 3,600 supportive and transitional housing units over 10 years.

The most recent figures on homelessness estimate over 2,000 live on the streets of Vancouver.

Sullivan said that between this partnership with the province, the purchase of 10 Downtown Eastside hotels and recent federal announcements on housing projects for first nations, Vancouver is close to attaining those goals ahead of schedule.

Other lines of attack such as drug substitution programs, beefed up drug treatment programs and the community court due to open in 2008 should also help reduce the number of people living on the streets, Sullivan said.

"The lesson from New York and other places suggests that you can help people connect with resources through the legal system and reduce homelessness," he explained.

Although many of the 113 registered speakers at the public forums were concerned housing people with addictions and mental illness outside the Downtown Eastside would spread mayhem to the city's neighbourhoods, councillors were unanimous in their support of the project.

"These kinds of projects enhance the safety of neighbourhoods," said Coun. Kim Capri.

When people are properly housed and facilities are staffed 24 hours a day, there is simply more scrutiny, she said.

Many of the people who live in social and supportive housing must agree to certain conditions, such as avoiding drugs and alcohol and taking proper medication as a condition of tenancy, Capri added.

"We know the people of Vancouver support this," said Sullivan. "We also recognize that housing is in the provincial mandate, but if you want action from the province on this file you have to come to the table with something."

Something, in this case, is tens of millions of dollars worth of prime urban real estate. City staff believe construction on at least six of the sites will be underway by the end of 2008."