Housing tower could ghettoize poor, Ald. says

A Calgary city councillor is opposing the construction of a new, affordable housing tower downtown, saying the project would move too many low-income people into one building and could end up creating a ghetto.

The Mustard Seed, a non-profit group that feeds and houses the poor,plans to build a 28-storey complex that would include 365 affordable housing units in the Beltline at10th Avenue and Centre Street.

But Ward 8 Ald. Madeleine King said the city should find other, smaller properties that could be used for affordable housing.

"Although we have a desperate situation at the moment, it's very important that when we deal with affordable housing, we need to design affordable housing in a way that people can be good neighbours," she said.

"If we don't get it right, then we set up a situation that is ripe for drugs [and]victimization of people who are easy to find … We also increase the possibility of NIMBYism."

Havingtoo many units together could result in a ghetto system, she warned.

Floyd Perras, head of the Mustard Seed, said Calgary desperately needs the affordable rental units the building would provide. Recent condo developments in the area have eliminated affordable housing and replaced it with high-end homes, he said.

"The Beltline is going to move from 10,000 to 30,000 residents in the next 10 years. Three hundred subsidized units within that just creates a bit of diversity.

"Actually, I think we need some more affordable housing units built in the area to maintain some level of diversity in the downtown core."

Perras said the city doesn't seem committed to moving away from using shelters to house the city's working poor.