The Orchard Park Housing Project, first tenanted in December 1958 is the second instalment of subsidized housing in Vancouver. Also managed by the Vancouver Housing Authority under the sanction of federal, provincial and municipal governments, it is the sister project to "Little Mountain", the public housing project situated at Main Street and 33rd Avenue, Vancouver. This project has been the subject of a previous survey (Elaine Fromson, Joy Hansen, and Roger Smith: The Little Mountain Low-Rental Housing Project: A Survey of its Welfare Aspects.) An important similarity to the Little Mountain project is that Orchard Park, too, was constructed without direct involvement with slum-clearance; in other words, the people here re-housed were drawn from many different locations to a new site. This study attempts to analyse, from the tenants’ point of view, the efficacy with which their various "welfare" needs are being met by the provision of publicly-owned housing; the ramifications of project-community relations; and the administrative implications of the entire undertaking. This information was obtained by means of interviews (a one-in-three sampling of the tenant population), averaging approximately one hour in length. Proportional samples of the tenant "categories" were obtained, with regard to (a) types of family ("complete" families, "broken" families, "single" occupants) and (b) income groups. An overall statistical picture, for comparison, was derived from the registration files of the Vancouver Housing Authority. Tenant reactions varied greatly depending partially upon previous housing experience; but the provision of new, bright, and clean surroundings, with adequate heat and hot water, was hailed with virtual unanimity. However, several areas of concern are outstanding (1) No appropriately planned facilities for children exist; (2) initial laundry arrangements were unsatisfactory; (3) the layout of Orchard Park includes three "through" streets, a hazard to both young and old; and, (4) so far as space and facilities are concerned, absolutely no provision has been made for tenant gatherings. The growing proportion of lower-income families, and also of multi-problem families in local public housing is vital in the implications of this study, which are discussed fully in Chapter IV. It is clear that not only further research, but more attention to "welfare practicalities" is essential, if present deficiencies are to be avoided in the future. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Housing conditions are, of course, mentioned frequently in social work files and case records, but there is no standardization of descriptive information, and few systematic or periodic surveys. Housing conditions among social assistance families have not been studied as much as might be supposed. A special point is that many social assistance families have only one parent; for broken families the influences of good or bad housing are more pronounced. The present study is a survey of housing conditions among social assistance families, based on a sample and revealing the types of shelter available, the costs of such shelter, and its quality and adequacy for the families who inhabit it. It is also an essay on method: (a) a simple schedule was devised, appropriate for summarizing basic housing information in case files: (b) classifications or subdivisions by which housing can be related to family circumstances were developed. By nature the families classify themselves into those who are paying more than the rental allowance and those who are paying less. The actual study divides itself into three areas: (a) criteria of adequacy, (b) budget aspects of rent and costs, (c) some tentative methods of relating housing conditions to effects on family life, differences In family stability and attitudes, and the family's ability to manage on a limited income. The latter involve ratings and judgements by social workers, but they are explorations in an area which has important welfare significance. Information for the study was obtained from the Vancouver City Social Service Department records of social assistance families, from interviews with the workers assigned to each family, and from relevant literature on housing and on welfare policy. Many of the families were found to be paying rent in excess of their shelter allowance. There is also considerable incidence of inadequacy of shelter. Payment of extra rent does not necessarily insure adequate shelter, because the available amount of satisfactory housing is limited. Suites, apartments, and rooms are the most prevalent type of housing for social assistance families, but also the most inadequate. Single-family housing is hard to obtain. Housing of this type may involve budget difficulties or expedients (including "doubling up") to make it possible. The implications of the study as seen in the concluding chapter Include (a) the adequacy of the social assistance grant, (b) the possibilities for social work services, and (c) the relevance of public "low-rent" housing projects. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The need for public low-rental housing is frequently discussed but there is little exact knowledge of the amount or kind of need, and few surveys of definitive type. The inauguration of the first subsidized low-rental project for family housing in Vancouver (Little Mountain) makes possible such a study. This survey is directed particularly to the housing and income circumstances of the families who applied for entrance to the Little Mountain low-rental housing project (only a small proportion of whom were actually housed in the finished buildings). Samples only could be used: the data relates to the kind of housing occupied by the applicant families, the costs of such housing, its quality and adequacy, the size and composition of the families, and their rent-paying capacity. It is -also an essay on method: (a) a simple schedule was devised, appropriate for summarizing the varied family and housing information contained in the registration forms; (b) classifications or subdivisions by which housing can be related to family circumstances were developed. A significant division is that between (1) 'normal' families which have both parents, (2) broken families which have only one parent, and (3) composite families which include other relatives. The analysis of the material is pursued in three directions: (a) adequacy or inadequacy of family accommodation, and its distribution, (b) summary methods of relating housing conditions to family composition, income, and rent, (c) budgetary aspects of rent and costs, and potential rent-paying capacities of families. Information for the study was obtained from the Vancouver Housing Authority registration forms filled by families who applied for accommodation in the Little Mountain project; from regional (B.C.) statistics of the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation; and from relevant literature on housing conditions in Vancouver and on housing policy in general, including the surveys and publications of the Vancouver Housing Association. Most of the families were found to be occupying accommodation unsuited to their needs. There is considerable incidence of inadequacy and inefficiency of accommodation; overcrowding is particularly pronounced. Many of the families are paying moderate rents, but the quality of the accommodation is low. Payment of higher rents does not necessarily ensure adequate shelter, because the available amount of satisfactory housing is limited. A major implication of the study is that rent-levels should not be used as a measurement of housing without proper relation to family composition and types of housing need. Wider implications of the study, discussed in the concluding chapter, include (a) limitations to the idea of "self-help" in housing, (b) the relevance of home-ownership, and (c) the relevance of public housing. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The focus of this study is on means by which the spatial distribution of housing development can be explained. This involved firstly (I) identification of potential determinants of residential location and the verification thereof, and secondly (II) investigation into the applicability of the use of Clark's Theory of Exponentially Declining Densities as a predictor of housing unit completions. (I) Interviews with sixty-three developers in the Greater Vancouver Area were used to rank criteria used in their location decision-making. Regressions of some of the more important criteria were attempted with housing completions as the dependent variable. Analysis of the data demonstrates that housing unit completions of a subarea are strongly related to both its unused and total housing potential. The data does not support the developers’ contention that relative land price is an important locational determinant. Travel time from the central business district is not in itself a significant variable in explaining the spatial distribution of housing unit completions. (II) Less than 50% of the variation of population density is explainable in terms of distance from the CBD in the manner of Clark's relation: Population/Area = [formula omitted] here d is the distance from the central business district, and A and b are constants. Considerably better results (59% to 74% of the variation) are obtained with the inverse travel relations:Population/Area Zoned Residential =[formula omitted]and Housing Units/Area Zoned Residential = [formula omitted]where t is the travel time from the central business district. The existence of unused potential in a subarea as defined by the difference between the density observed and the density calculated (by Clark's Theory or by the Inverse Travel Time Relation above) is a significant predictor variable of whether or not residential construction will take place. However, the magnitude of the unused potential thus calculated is not a significant determinant of the actual number of housing unit completions. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

This empirical study is based on a broad premise of relationship between human behavior and the structured micro-environment within buildings. It took the form of a survey to evaluate the design quality of a student residence by means of personal observation and the interpretation of responses of a systematically selected sample of residents to a set of structured questionnaires. The Walter Gage Residence, a group of newly-built highrise, coed -living dormitories within the campus of the University of British Columbia Vancouver, serves as a case to illustrate application of behavioral premises and architectural design. Research on it was mainly based on four techniques: (1) literature research, (2) systematic observation, (3) exploratory- interview, and (4) distribution of questionnaire among a systematically selected sample. The information includes data on the residents' general biographic background, childhood residential environment, just-previous residence, tenure of living in the Gage Residence, potential mobility and criteria for selecting the Walter Gage Residence to live in. The students' perception and self-rating of the quality of architectural design of the Gage Residence as measured on a 7-point semantic scale specifically developed for the purpose while residents' perception of the social climate within their own suites were obtained on a standard environmental scale. An attempt was made to assess residents' friendship patterns, mutual trust, and helping behavior. Assessment of daily activity patterns of students inside the residence also included information on their average daily hours spent in study and in other extracurricular activities within quads and common block lounges in main floor. A measure of residents' perception of personal space, privacy and territoriality was also attempted. Part of this study was designed to determine whether the results of some similar studies previously conducted in the USA could be replicated. Finally, the users' overall satisfaction with living in this residence was measured. The summary of conclusions were that: 1. While the towers of the Gage Residence were observed to possess a medium density, the emerging trend of its residents' perception and rating of its architectural design qualities conformed reasonably with the results of previous studies on low or low-medium density residences in the USA. The Gage resident rated the design of his residence positively on convenience, uniqueness, safety and relaxation, and negatively on crampedness. Conversely, Gage residents' ratings were found to parallel dimensions that would be considered desirable with high density residences eg. safety, convenience and well orderliness. Furthermore, the Gage residents' indicated a relatively higher degree of helping behavior, but a lower degree of social responsiblity motivation as compared to other studies on equivalent (medium) density student residences in the USA. 2. In the perception of their social climate in their respective quad apartments, Gage residents rated high on the subscales of involvement, emotional support, academic achievement, intellectuality and independance, but low in student influence as compared to some previous studies. Also, users' perception of the social environment of their quads positively correlated with their judgement about its architectural qualities. 3. Residents' self-evaluation of the architectural design attributes of their residence were influenced by their childhood housing, type of urban area, just previous residence, mobility, selection criteria for living in it, friendship pattern, mutual trust stress/anxiety and overall satisfaction. 4. Residents' overall satisfaction with living in the Gage Residence was generally influenced by their biographic background. In particular, area of childhood living housing type, just previous residence before moving in the Gage Residence, degree of mobility, tenure in this residence, living with more number of self-chosen mates, (degree of intimacy), and mutual trust have all influenced their satisfaction. 5. Although living in this residence was found acceptable by the majority of residents, their responses indicate that its design imposed limitation on the desirable level of social interaction within it. The self-sufficiently designs quads (suites) have severely limited students' involvement with adjacent quads. Consequently, the stereotyped design has produced a monotonous, cold and socially sterile living environment typically prevalent in downtown apartment living. In short, the design of this residence has embodied all the best and worst features of apartment living. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

The Little Mountain Housing Project is not only the first unit of publicly-owned family housing in Vancouver, but one of the first examples of low-rental housing which is not directly slum-clearance rehousing (i.e., it is built on a new site, not a cleared downtown area). The socio-economic circumstances of the first applicants for this housing, and their policy implications, have already been the subject of an analytical study (thesis by Mr. Michael Wheeler: Evaluating the Need for Low-Renatl Housing). The present study follows this up by surveying the population of the Project after four years of operation. This survey is directed particularly to family welfare, recreation, social interests, the relation of the Project to the surrounding community, and the administrative implications of all of these. A series of structured interviews was organized with a sample of tenants who represented proportionally the types of families ("complete" families, "broken" families, and pension couples) and main income-groups of the total Project population. An overall statistical framework was derived from registration files of the Vancouver Housing Authority. Most of the families were found to be generally satisfied with their accommodation, but reactions were invited on a wide range of subjects to assess the significance of better housing for parents and children. Among deficiencies in the Project, that of appropriate meeting-places for both Project and community activity came continuously to the fore. Implications of this study, discussed in two concluding chapters, include (a) reactions and suggestions on improvements, (b) the steady incidence of welfare problems, and (c) the possible contributions of social workers in low-rental housing projects. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

This thesis stems from three separate but interrelated questions on public housing projects: l) do families that are potential residents of public housing projects, living in the community at large, feel socially isolated, and is their sense of isolation alleviated by living in the project? 2) what are the effects on these families of living in a project with similar type (socioeconomic) of residents and the provision of common facilities? 3) what are the various forms of designed provisions that can be introduced to overcome social isolation and improve community integration? "Culloden Court," one of the public housing projects in Vancouver, has been chosen as the case study for this investigation. A series of unstructured interviews were conducted with: Group 1 - residents of the Culloden Court project; Group 2 - applicants requesting accommodation in public housing projects (future residents); and Group 3- the families living in the immediate neighbourhood of the Culloden Court project. Statistical data on the first two groups were derived from the files of the B. C. Housing Management. The questioning directed itself to finding (l) the personal relationship of the residents to each other, (2) how the different types of resident groups related to each other, (3) how the project residents and people from project neighbourhood area relate themselves to the housing and project facilities, and finally (4) the kinds of households that should be provided in the project. The findings clearly indicated that the future residents (Group 2) felt socially isolated in the community and were looking forward to living in projects, among a similar type of family. The response pattern also shows that project residents are generally more satisfied in the way they live now than the way they lived before moving into the project. The role of the recreation room was frequently mentioned in discussing satisfaction with the project. Social integration between the community residents and the neighbourhood of the project (Group 3) and project residents was found to be lacking, although project residents attach great importance to this aspect. It is hoped that this study may help in providing guidelines in designing future housing layouts for people who find themselves in similar situations. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate

Unattached women with problem backgrounds are repeatedly using crisis related services in Vancouver's skid road. These services consist of emergency shelter accommodation, counselling, and housing referral. The women requiring these services have an urgent problem locating and maintaining stable, long-term housing. Such women are usually between the ages of 19 and 55 years and live without spouses, dependents, or other significant attachments. They are likely to be physically, mentally, or socially handicapped, and unable to support themselves. Most of them are defined by social service and health agency workers as "hard-to-house" in most private market housing. Members of this group have personal problems characterized by psychiatric difficulties, mental instability, and drug and alcohol problems. Their present residential environment and the lack of suitable residential alternatives, exacerbate their problems, causing extreme psychological and often physical hardships. Agency workers express urgent concern that, while the provision of emergency services may temporarily stabilize a client, the constant moves and the repetition of these services is not only therapeutically disruptive, but does nothing to meet the clients' long-term needs. As most of the target group is unable to cope with independent living and requires 2n>-hour living supervision, the need for residential care is perceived as a remedy. There is evidence that the occurrence of deinstitutionalization has added to the numbers of skid road residents by releasing ill-prepared patients or inmates of institutions into the community. Hotels and rooming house operators express concern over a hard-to-house population who are burdensome. Mental health professionals have expressed concern over the lack of residential alternatives available to former mental patients in Vancouver. The recent trend in the care of deinstitutionalized mental patients in North America, point to the provision of supportive housing. This is housing which provides social supports designed to assist the resident in coping with daily living while integrating into the community. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the nature of these women's housing problems in their current residential environment; to discover their dissatisfactions and requirements with regard to housing; to examine the supply of residential options; and to explore the - type of residential alternatives that would be most suited to their needs. Three data sources were used: skid road agency workers and their clients experiencing housing related difficulties; key informants in the community involved in the provision of social housing and residential care programs; and the mental health literature. Interviews with agency workers and their clients found that hotel and rooming houses are highly inappropriate living arrangements for the subject group. Several conditions related to the skid road residential environment were found to render unattached woment especially vulnerable to physical and sexual assault and other forms of harrassment. These conditions included poor security; limited supervision; discrimination; as well as the fact that women are a minority population. The interviews also found that women prefer safe, secure, self-contained suites or sex-segregated bathrooms and toilets. The inventory of residential options in Vancouver revealed that most were unsuitable, and of those considered suitable, the supply was extremely inadequate. The mental health literature suggests that residential programs encouraging independent living, have been successful for other populations with characteristics similar to those of the target group. This thesis recommends further study of the population, their capabilities, and the extent to which they can be rehabilitated, as well as/'the necessary support services required, to be followed by the initiation of a pilot project. The thesis also recommends that skid road hotels and rooming houses be improved in ways that would reduce the hardships imposed on unattached female residents. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the housing environment faced by street youth in the City of Vancouver. It seeks to understand the housing needs of street youth, to identify the barriers encountered in accessing housing, to identify and evaluate their housing options, and to examine the provincial and municipal government roles in providing housing for street youth. This thesis defines a street youth as an individual between the ages of 12 and 18 who has either chosen to leave or been thrown out of their family home for a minimum of two days, is involved in street related activities, and sleeps in inappropriate accommodations or has no shelter at all. The terms street youth and homeless youth are used interchangeably because the qualities which are absent from an individual’s living environment - privacy, security, stability and access to support services - are also absent from the various living situations in which street youth find themselves. The methodology undertaken to complete this thesis is a literature review and a case study of Vancouver’s street youth. The literature review provides background information on the general subject of homelessness, and specifically, the reasons why youth choose to live a life on the street and the lifestyle they lead once on the street. The empirical component of the research consists of interviews with service providers and street youth. The interview results clearly reveal that two interrelated problem areas exist in the broad issue of street youth and housing. These areas are first, the state care system, both its form and manner of service provision, and second, accessibility to market housing - social, economic and political factors which affect a youth’s ability to secure housing. An issue common to both problem areas, and perpetuating the problems in each, is the lack of value and respect society gives to youth. A ‘continuum of housing’ model is proposed which takes into account the family backgrounds conmion to many street youth, the types of lifestyle they lead while on the street, and the problems associated with state-provided and market housing. In addition, recommendations are provided which centre on advocacy and service-coordinating bodies, attitude changes, additional housing facilities, landlord-tenant relationships, government assistance eligibility criteria, and funding.

The theme of this exploration is the issue of habitability. In its most basic sense, dwilling seems to be defined by constructions which carry social values of privacy. At the same time, the many moves of privacying are understood to be relative to public worlds--to the point that ambiguities persist: the fact that pivate percetions can be exchanged for public ones in the very same spaces. Uncovering these relative and, at times, opposite realities means that a great deal of importance is paid to thresholds. By this, I mean the truns in plan, the drops in section, etc. which relate a sequence of unfolding via devices which stimulate subtleties in mood and awareness. Issues of public to private (and its opposite, simultaneous inversion) are investigated using the concept of nested scales . Here, analogous moods shared by movements through scale (eg. street to courtyard; hall to room) are investigated for their synergy. Parallel to these social perceptions are investigations which focus on the elemental specifics of dwellings. What value can hearths be to dwelling? What is a modern control centre for the household? What are the requirements for the bathing ritual? These types of questions permeate the general evalutaion of dwelling design. Sutides which detail abstracted, idealised elements help to inform the larger project-like a kit of parts, they serve as cornerstones which seed and temper the sequential experience of the dwelling. Ultimately, this abstraction absolves the need to make "rooms" but rather to compose dwellings via the integration of elements filtered through public/private dialogues, sequence, and continuity. The site is bounded by 15th and 16th avenues to the North and South and by Arbutus St. and the CPR right of way to the west and east, respectively. Its dimenstions are 270 feet in length and 16 feet and its narrowest, 44 feet and its widest. The site acts as catalyst for the whole project of fitting in thresholds and elements. Like a sandwich, the site compresses thin, discrete, and identifiable componete parts into a whole building. The very narrowness of the site forces a dialogue to surface between the tremendous, double-sided exposure of the building—its public condition, and the construction of nesting scales of prospect and refuge.