Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - Project Civil City and Housing: the "Sticking Points" Workshop

 

What are the hold-ups with housing and why is it so hard to solve the problem of homelessness? 

Everyone seems to agree that more needs to be done to deal with the housing situation in Vancouver.  Homelessness is increasing.  Our shelters are overloaded and have waiting lines that stretch for full city blocks.  The ceiling for "affordable" housing is becoming further out of reach for  the city's residents.  Much work is taking place... but in short, we seem to be losing ground.Civil City Housing Poster

The City's Project Civil City Initiative has a stated goal of reducing Vancouver's rate of homelessness by 50% in time for the 2010 Olympics.  Is this ambitious target possible?  What might it take to make it happen?  And what are the sticking points that are making this difficult?

On Tuesday November 13 the Vancouver Public Space Network hosted it's second public forum on Project Civil City.  The event was co-sponsored by the Vancouver Public Library.

>> Watch video of the event

The event featured presentations by the following experts:

The evening's proceedings were moderated by Monte Paulsen, Investigative Editor of The Tyee.

>> SPEAKER BIOS


The event presented a brief overview of some of the barriers to further action on housing.  Community members were then invited to participate in a collaborative idea-generating process to brainstorm possible ways around the sticking points.  Material from the session is being compiled for presentation to all three levels of government.

The following background materials are also available for review:

>> CIVIL CITY, HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS - BACKGROUNDER
>> CIVIL CITY, HOUSING, & HOMELESSNESS - WORKSHOP VIDEO
>> BACKGROUND MATERIALS - PROJECT CIVIL CITY


 

Media inquiries:

Vancouver Public Space Network - 778-239-7544
info - at - vancouverpublicspace - dot - ca