West Broadway gets new housing plan

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This article was published 24/09/2021 (1670 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The West Broadway Community Organization released a new neighbourhood housing plan over the summer. It stresses the need for more quality, affordable housing in the community for low-income residents.

The WBCO developed the plan through extensive consultation with community members and an analytical review between February 2020 and February 2021. Public outreach included surveys, focus groups, and interviews.

Feedback showed that people appreciate the West Broadway neighbourhood for its central location, people, and services. A look at data also highlighted the unique context of the community. West Broadway is three times as dense as Winnipeg overall, has older housing stock, and has a greater share of renters. Residents are more likely to use non-car means of transportation, such as walking, biking, and public transit. Nearly half the neighbourhood population is low-income.

Some noticeable long-term trends are eroding housing affordability, however. Land values, house sale prices, and property values rose in West Broadway amidst a Winnipeg-wide housing shortage. This attracted investment in the neighbourhood in the form of renovations of existing housing and the construction of new builds.

However, it also resulted in rising rents for renovated or new units and a reduction in affordable housing stock for low-income renters. A stark example of this is rooming houses, which many low-income renters rely upon. The number of these houses fell between 2016 and 2019, as many were converted into owner-occupied, single-family houses.

The plan describes how new construction has not kept up with recent population growth, resulting in a low vacancy rate and more competition for housing. This means more vulnerable populations, less likely to have documentation, local references, co-signers, or damage deposits, will have more trouble securing scarce housing units.

The plan notes that many nonprofit builders have stopped or slowed down their housing projects in the neighbourhood, resulting in less affordable units coming onto market in recent years.

An exception is the University of Winnipeg Renewal Corporation, which focuses on projects that combine affordable and market rent units. Earlier this year, its Broadway Commons apartment building, a joint venture between the Renewal Corporation and All Saints Church, opened. This project includes 148 units categorized as affordable.

Collecting and mapping housing data is identified as important in the WBCO’s housing plan. It further recommends work to create new affordable units, including units based around Employment and Income Assistance rates. The plan seeks increased support for underserved and unhoused persons, including people with disabilities, newcomers, youth, and seniors.

Dylon Martin is a community correspondent for West Broadway.