Low-rent housing is only one item in the "welfare agenda" for the aged, but it is of fairly recent recognition compared with boarding homes, institutions, nursing care, et cetera. There are many causes of the heavy demand for self-contained accommodation for the able-bodied; but greater information on needs and preferences is also essential for wise planning. The present study is an exploratory sampling of the living arrangements and needs and preferences of able-bodied pensioners living in various types of accommodation in West Vancouver, a suburban community in which a small housing project has recently been built. For the purpose of this study, the individuals surveyed were divided into two groups: married couples, and single persons (women only, in the present instance). The survey was conducted by individual interviews, and some experimental questionnaires were developed. In the two main groups studied--married couples and "single" women--some significant differences were found between those who wished to remain in their present dwelling and those who wished to make a change which would be an improvement. The first group was composed mostly of homeowning couples, and single women living alone who had been in the same place for a number of years. The group who did not find their present living arrangements satisfactory was composed mostly of couples were were in rented accommodation, and single women who were living with married children. Within all groups there were many variations; but one problem which was common to all groups was insufficient financial resources. Most of those who rented accommodation were paying more than they could afford for rent. The homeowners, after paying taxes, had insufficient funds left for needed repairs and upkeep, and sometimes for necessities. Many older people were living apart from married children, although they wished to live close enough to permit visiting. Likewise, many single women who lived with married children, although their facilities were superior to those of single women living alone, nevertheless derived least satisfaction from their living arrangements. All of the older persons who wished to move regarded the accommodation in the West Vancouver Senior Citizens Housing Project as highly desirable. The main implications of the study include: the need for low-rental housing for older people; the possibilities for social work services in planning and to help the older person use the facilities when available; and the continuous relevance of public education and community organization. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Transition areas located at the fringes of Central Business Districts are, in most cities, one of the important residential location options for the lowest income groups. The dynamics of city growth result in a process of abandonment of those areas by the high income groups and occupation by the poor; most neighborhoods in those areas have a low level of housing maintenance and low rental values. Some housing programs, such as NIP, RRAP, attempt to improve the housing conditions of the poor by upgrading the housing stock in those areas. It is felt that, by subsidizing housing repairs and neighbohood improvement programs, two objectives can be achieved: better housing for the poor and neighborhood stability. At the same time, there is evidence in some North American cities of a reversal of the suburbanization process: some medium-to-high income groups which traditionally tend to locate in suburban areas, now are locating in old-central neighborhoods. The houses are extensively renovated, and some of these areas are gradually becoming new middle-to-high class residential districts. This trend raises some concern with respect to the effects of this process on low-income residential options. Although there is some evidence that the gentrification process may produce dislocation problems for the poor, there seems to be little agreement as to the significance of this problem and the type of housing policies that would be more appropriate to ensure adequate housing for the poor in areas undergoing gentrification. This research has four major objectives: 1) To identify the role of transition areas on low-income residential location. 2) To identify those variables that can explain the gentrification process in central neighborhoods. 3) To assess the effects of gentrification, particularly on low-income residential location options. 4) To assess the effects of housing and neighborhood improvement subsidies on low-income location in gentrifying areas. The method chosen was that of theoretical research. A review of different bodies of location theory was used to derive a conceptual location model which combines economic, socio-ecologic and dynamic components of residential location. The model, in turn, was applied to analyze the four research areas listed in the objectives. As a general conclusion drawn from the analysis, it is suggested that the gentrification process defines a planning situation characterized by conflicting goals and long-term uncertainty. The analysis provided some insight as to the type of uncertainty involved, the nature of the goals conflict, and some indicators that can be useful for housing policy in gentrifying areas. Since the gentrification process appears to be very recent in Canada, most of the evidence presented- in this research is based on US literature. However, the approach taken has attempted to focus on those variables that would appear to be more applicable to the Canadian scene. The model presented in this research can be used for a number of planning purposes, one of which is measuring and understanding the occurrence and significance of gentrification in Canadian cities. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

During its formative years Vancouver appeared to offer unusual; potential for land and home ownership to its blue collar workers. The coincidental growth of the city's streetcar system with that of the early population itself, gave settlers of moderate means greater housing choice than that available to workers in the older cities of central Canada. The large supply of residential land opened up by the streetcar favoured the spread of detached family homes in the suburbs, in contrast to the attached and semi-detached dwellings characteristic of the older pedestrian city, which housed many Canadian urban workers. The study examines the availability of residential land and the extent to which it benefitted Vancouver working men prior to 1914. Vancouver's early real estate market however, was subject to speculative swings which constrained opportunities for blue collar land ownership. Initially, virtually all residential land was in the hands of the C.P.R. and a few B.C. entrepreneurs who together, fostered a speculative land market in the city. The records of early land companies, and after 1900, the real estate pages of Vancouver dailies, record the rapidly rising price of residential land in workingmen's areas as investors and speculators traded blocks and further out, acreage, among themselves. Land prices dropped temporarily during the depression of the mid 1890s but tax sales and auctions mainly benefitted those with the capital to ride out economic malaise. During the massive wave of immigration between 1904 and 1913, rising urban land costs and speculation in suburban land were endemic to Canada's rapidly growing cities. In Vancouver however, land values rose faster than elsewhere, culminating in the real estate boom of 1909-12. During this period, economic security for many workers was precarious. Seasonal as well as cyclical unemployment was a feature of the city's lumber manufacturing and construction industries. A large Asian minority added to the general preponderance of single male migrants in the city produced a labour surplus; and high hourly wages were offset by the high costs of living in the city. As Vancouver's population climbed after 1904, suburban settlement began to take shape. Two residential areas which attracted workingmen--Hillcrest and Grandview, are examined in some detail to determine the nature of the settlement process and, where assessment rolls are available, early land holding patterns. In general, large areas of both suburbs were owned by investors/speculators until 1909. By 1912 almost half the lots in Grandview and Hillcrest still remained undeveloped although rooming houses and small apartment blocks could be found near the streetcar lines. Turnover among Grand-view residents was high and a large minority did not yet own homes, a reflection of the volatile land market in the city. With the exception of a few years during the late 1880s and early 1900s, the struggle for home ownership in Vancouver differed little from the struggle in most Canadian cities. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

A critical concern for society at the present time is the detrimental effects of human activity on the ecosystems. However, while there is raised awareness about issues such as global warming and the thinning ozone layer, humans still plan and develop the urban landscape from the perspective of the Cartesian worldview. This is also apparent in planning for the aging population. Although there is a large body of literature on population aging and sustainable urban development as well as a significant amount of material on aging and urban planning, the three issues of sustainability, urban planning and population aging are seldom addressed simultaneously. This thesis addresses the question of how sustainability planning principles can be integrated with planning for population aging. To this end, I investigate the underlying paradigms of both planning and the sociology of aging to gain an understanding of the values that underscore the policy directions in both these fields. I also review the literature on population aging, as well as housing and health service planning to highlight some needs, preferences and beliefs of the older population. Finally, I survey the literature on sustainable urban planning to elucidate some points of intersection between the needs and preferences of an aging population and the dominant principles underwriting a more sustainable lifestyle. The most significant themes arising from this investigation are the need for social and physical restructuring through changing paradigms. It is clear that older people are treated as a special group and have been segregated either covertly or overtly from mainstream society. Therefore, a change in values is required normalizing the older population within the societal structure. At the same time, traditional urban planning supports increasing consumption of material and energy resources leading to greater environmental degradation. Physical urban restructuring that reduces fossil fuel consumption and waste production will move society towards sustainability. Social ecology and ecological planning principles underwrite such social and ecological restructuring. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Bibliography: leaves 277-286.

Thesis: M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering, 1978 / Bibliography: p. 195-199. / M.S. / M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering

This study examines the question of whether there is a role for the single room occupancy (SRO) hotel as a form of housing for a select group of low-income, urban elderly persons. Such a focus was selected because it is the single room type of housing, with neither individual kitchen nor bath, which HUD defines as substandard. This definition is viewed as problematic for several reasons. First, it has been a major barrier to the use of Federal funds to support such housing either through rehabilitation or rent subsidy, and second, it has been a major incentive to the use of Federal funds to remove such housing through programs like urban renewal. The study question is examined from several perspectives. One perspective looks at the hotel resident, his preferences and lifestyle, and compares these findings with a similar analysis of Section 8 apartment residents who previously resided in SRO hotels. Another perspective examines the cost of living for an SRO hotel resident in downtown and several other neighborhoods located throughout the City (Portland). A final perspective compares the cost to operate and maintain, rehabilitate, construct new, and subsidize SRO hotels and Section 8 apartments. This final perspective also compares the rate of return an owner receives from investing in the two forms of housing. Analysis of the study data confirms that: (a) there are preferential and lifestyle differences between the present and past hotel residents which reflect their differing housing choices, (b) the cost of living for an SRO lifestyle is least expensive in the downtown neighborhood, and (c) SRO hotels are less costly than Section 8 apartment to produce and operate from the standpoint of overall cost and amount of subsidy required, and SRO hotels can provide a reasonable return on investment. In conclusion, the study proposes that SRO hotels provide an appropriate setting for a select group of elderly persons, can be decent, safe, and sanitary, and as such, should be made the object of an intense Federal effort to facilitate their rehabilitation as single room housing units.

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