Flora Place is a new Winnipeg Regional Housing development in the Dufferin / Selkirk Avenue area. It was built to replace the original Flora Place which was a cluster of 100 homes built in 1947 as temporary shelter to handle the influx of returning troops.
Over the decades, the homes had fallen into disrepair and 72 of them were torn down in 1999-00. A solution would be needed for the remaining 26 units and their residents.
Original Flora Place housing from Manitoba Professional Planners Institute newsletter
In 2004, the three levels of government began talking about a new Flora Place and a $4.4m redevelopment agreement was announced in 2006.
The new Flora Place consists of 28 units, (16 one-bedroom, 8 two-bedroom and 4 three-bedroom). They are single storey, built in clusters, have front porches, and are fully accessible. Four of the units are barrier-free, 16 are rent-geared-to-income, and the remainder offer below median market rents.
In 2006, the remaining units were demolished and residents relocated to new premises. By August 2007, the first wave of residents began returning to their new homes. These photos were taken in July 2007:
On my return one year later, I found myself in an interesting neighbourhood. The first thing I noticed was that a couple of people waved to me as I walked around - something that I don't think would happen in most WRHA housing developments!
The houses on the interior of the site all faced each other and most had at least a couple of chairs out on the front porch area so it looked like they were being used.
One resident who had been a resident in the old Flora Place invited me inside for a tour. She had a 600 square foot, one-bedroom unit.
Her main complaint was that the old homes were mostly two bedrooms and that size was no longer allowed for single people in the new development. I found out later that the old units had 400 sq ft of main living area, so it appears that residents lost a bedroom but gained 200 sq ft.
The main living area was open concept, coming in the front door you could see straight through to the open kitchen at the back of the unit. The bedroom was moderately sized with a small closet. The bathroom was almost the size of the bedroom (to be wheelchair accessible) but had no linen closet. There was a small en suite storage area.
Considering how small they look from the outside, it felt bigger than I thought it would.
I asked about crime. She said that the neighbours, new and old, are nice enough and there have not been many problems. The issue is with people in the surrounding neighbourhood. She faces outside the development, so noise and minor vandalism have been an issue.
The lady didn't seem to be a big "rules person" and sometimes felt the place was over managed. She said she felt freer in the old development to do things like create a garden, the sizes of which are apparently regulated here.
The houses on the interior of the site all faced each other and most had at least a couple of chairs out on the front porch area so it looked like they were being used.
One resident who had been a resident in the old Flora Place invited me inside for a tour. She had a 600 square foot, one-bedroom unit.
Her main complaint was that the old homes were mostly two bedrooms and that size was no longer allowed for single people in the new development. I found out later that the old units had 400 sq ft of main living area, so it appears that residents lost a bedroom but gained 200 sq ft.
The main living area was open concept, coming in the front door you could see straight through to the open kitchen at the back of the unit. The bedroom was moderately sized with a small closet. The bathroom was almost the size of the bedroom (to be wheelchair accessible) but had no linen closet. There was a small en suite storage area.
Considering how small they look from the outside, it felt bigger than I thought it would.
I asked about crime. She said that the neighbours, new and old, are nice enough and there have not been many problems. The issue is with people in the surrounding neighbourhood. She faces outside the development, so noise and minor vandalism have been an issue.
The lady didn't seem to be a big "rules person" and sometimes felt the place was over managed. She said she felt freer in the old development to do things like create a garden, the sizes of which are apparently regulated here.
I'm interested in keeping tabs on Flora Place and see how it does.
Despite it looking a bit like a doll-house version of Linden Woods, it certainly has some advantages over any other type of public housing that is offered in the city. I imagine that other people are watching Flora Place as well to see if it might be expanded in future as our old style of public housing becomes more and more dysfunctional.
UPDATE: November 2008. Flora Place won a national CMHC Housing Award for "Best Practices in Affordable Housing". A PDF backgrounder on the development and award can be found here. Congrats !
2 comments:
When I was a baby my family lived in #4 Flora Place. We moved when I was about 5 years old to Arlington Street near Portage. Thanks for the article, I have checked in on this area a few times over the years.
I can also relate. My brother(a year older), and I, had some good memories and some very upsetting memories living there but it was our home at the time. I was 5 when we moved away from Flora Place. That was a very long time ago. Our family moved to another part of the city to live with my grandpa.
Reflecting on days gone by.
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