Relocation for Mount Pleasant

Office for the 'Relocation of Little Mountain'

When I take my daughter to gym class I pass by a large housing development at Ontario and 33rd Avenue. This past spring and summer I had seen families out on the corner of Main and 33rd with large blue signs calling for Housing For All.

All of sudden the homes are boarded up; well at least most of them.

It is a very strange landscape. The lawns are well manicured, but the homes are becoming desolate. The Little Mountain Housing Complex comprises a large area, over 15 acres, facing Queen Elizabeth Park. Only a few of the windows are not boarded up. I cannot imagine what those few who are left are going through.

So, I did some research to educate myself on the issues. The complex is made of 224 housing units and was constructed in the mid 1950's. One woman has lived in her home for 44 years and she is told to leave. Holborn Properties is the developer in charge of the project. The province wants to replace it with more housing and use this under-utilized land more efficiently. The provincial government plans to offer homes first to all those vacated, but the construction is not to start until 2010 and will take approximately three years. The land sits empty now.

Individuals have been fighting this issue for a long time. It is not just about this piece of property but homelessness as well. I will include links to their websites as I would wish anyone interested to read their words directly.

http://www.my-calm.info/ - "Advocates for Little Mountain"

http://www.streamsofjustice.org/2008/04/solidarity-with-tenants-of-little.html - Streams of Justice blog page.

For the other side: www.housing.gov.bc.ca