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Held. Together. Community Ownership / Community benefit
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Thurs. Feb. 9th
11 Brock Affordable Housing Visioning Workshop

 

Good news—Parkdale is getting new affordable housing!  
But what type of affordable housing? Affordable for who? How can it respond to community needs? Join us for a Visioning Workshop focused on Affordable Housing at 11 Brock Ave. and join the conversation!
 
WHAT: 11 Brock Affordable Housing Visioning Workshop
WHEN: Doors at 6:30pm, Visioning Activity - 7:00-9:00pm
WHERE: 20 West Lodge Ave - May Robinson Auditorium
WHO: Parkdale Residents and Stakeholders
ACCESSIBILITY: Wheelchair access. Tibetan interpretation will be available.
 
11 Brock Ave. is city-owned land that is going to become affordable housing. The Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust is gathering recommendations from residents on what type of affordable housing should be built. The focus of the conversation will be on the needs of senior housing, supportive housing, and affordable family housing.
 
Speakers from the community will talk about recent planning initiatives and share stories of living in Parkdale. Residents will have a chance to discuss what type of affordable housing they would like to see in the community.
 
Please register online or at the door.

Report-back:  
"What's in it for Parkdale?"
and PNLT Gentrification Lecture Series 


In October, PNLT hosted “What’s in it for Parkdale?”,  a public information night to address the growing concern of gentrification in our neighbourhood.  This session included speakers on the types of gentrification, local community group representatives sharing their experiences with city planning, and key takeaways for how communities can mobilize around the various issues area gentrification presents.



The following month, PNLT participated in and supported another three public lectures on the history of gentrification, examples of social property development by Indwell and how PNLT is working within Parkdale. All three lectures were well attended by local residents, community leaders and Torontonians looking to exchange ideas and concerns about the effects of gentrification in our neighbourhood(s).  



Each lecture left time for Q&A and there was great discussion and questions from attendees.  Some of the key points raised were questions around how communities can take action to keep a ‘lid’ on gentrification, how to keep community groups and their boards invested and representative of the communities they are in and, how to effectively raise funds to acquire land and/or property for communities.

For a more extensive report-back on these events, click here!

Project Sneak Peek:
"A Vanishing Parkdale"

New photo series addresses the effects of gentrification, displacement and precarious housing through personal stories



"A Vanishing Parkdale" is a new collaboration between PNLT member Andrew Winchur and photographer Lauren Kolyn, which aims to capture the people and places threatened by economic and cultural redevelopment. The project will combine pictures with the voices of local residents to tell the story of Parkdale’s spaces and relationships. 

First to be featured is the Pia Bouman School for Ballet and Creative Movement, which has been part of Parkdale’s cultural establishment for almost forty years. In 2015, news came that its current home at 6 Noble St. had been purchased by Sweeny & Co., a local architecture and development firm. Depending on how the re-development of the site proceeds, the school might be forced to close and move elsewhere. Last November, Pia Bouman sat down to discuss her historic ties with the neighbourhood, as well as the school’s importance to the local economy and future prospects.



Pia: “[If the school is forced to close], Parkdale would lose something very important. That’s the input of the arts. As a space where kids can come to be exposed to the arts, soak it up, be influenced. It’s not about ballet steps. It’s not about doing my plier and pointing my feet, and wearing a tutu. That’s not at all what it’s all about. It’s about an extra-curricular education that kids do not get at school. Exposure to good music, education, what artists leave behind when these people leave.

I would like to invite people to see what this [school] is. It is not a ballet school. There is this preconceived idea that a ballet school is girls in pink tutus and tinsel and glitter. And it is only for rich kids. And is only for white kids. And such a privileged situation. It is not. It is an institution of the arts. It is not funded by anybody. It needs the support of Parkdale, desperately, to keep it available to everybody. It is an institution for all the artists that come to [the neighbourhood], that love Parkdale and like to hang out here, that like to develop their work here. If people would see that as an asset, something that you could be proud of… I think it would be helpful, because you can walk in here, you can see a show. You can do it right in Parkdale, you don’t have to go to the Distillery. We need something here, that reaches out from Dufferin out to Etobicoke, or High Park, or Swansea. This is where it can begin.”

Stay tuned for further coverage of the school, as well as new features!  

Wed. Feb. 8th, 9am
Support your neighbours on
Rent Strike!




A message from Parkdale Organize:

"Support your neighbours on rent strike!

Our neighbours at 87 Jameson are on rent strike. They are fighting a big rent increase – 3% above the guideline. The landlord, MetCap, wants tenants in the building to pay for balcony renovations. Meanwhile, MetCap refuses to fix up units, provide proper heat or pest control, or make the entrance to the building and lobby elevators wheelchair accessible. It's time for Parkdale to stand up to MetCap."

See full action details.

Request For Proposals (RFP):

Urban Agriculture Site Planning
& Business Planning



PNLT & GC seek professional consulting services to help develop a plan for the future of the Milky Way Garden, a 7000 sq ft vacant lot that we envision will become a community owned Shared Urban Agriculture Space for Parkdale.

RFP 1:  Urban Agriculture Site Planning  
DOWNLOAD RFP 

RFP 2: Urban Agriculture Business Planning
Garden. DOWNLOAD RFP

Deadline February 24th. 
 

Project Spotlight:

COMMUNITY EDUCATION MODULE AT LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL  




In November 2016, representatives from PNLT’s & Parkdale Community Legal Services were invited to facilitate a four-day workshop on gentrification and tenant rights to Grade 10 Civics students at Parkdale Collegiate Institute. We developed and presented a curriculum that looked at housing as a human right, the complexities behind rent increases and evictions, and community-based resources to help tenants exercise their rights.



The students were active participants all week and we hope to further engage with them next year! 

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE UPDATE:

The PNLT Governance Committee had a busy year and continues to work on building PNLT's policy foundation. Some key items have included a conflict of interest policy, terms of reference for the executive committee, and guidelines for the executive committee in urgent decision-making. The committee also provided orientations for new PNLT board members and assisted in the selection of two interim board members for the current year. In the year ahead, a critical task for the committee will be to increase diversity on the PNLT board.

Please contact joshuabarndt@pnlt.ca if you are interested in joining this committee.

KENSINGTON MARKET
LAUNCHES A CLT!




In December 2016 Friends of Kensington Market launched its own community land trust. Read the full BlogTO story here!

CLT SPOTLIGHT:

NEW YORK CITY

In early January, New York City moved to support the expansion of community land trusts by releasing a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for groups interested in forming CLTs using city-owned property. Read the article.

Luckily, for the past four years there has been a coalition of groups working to build CLTs in communities across NYC. Check out this amazing video from the New York City Community Land Initiative.

ABOUT:


The Parkdale Community Land Trust is a community land trust in Parkdale led by a group of residents and organizations trying to promote the social, cultural and economic diversity of Parkdale by redefining how land is used and developed. Learn more here: www.pnlt.ca

Not a member yet? Click here to get involved!
 
JOIN PNLT NOW
Copyright © 2017 Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust. All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust
c/o Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre
1499 Queen Street West
Toronto, ON, M6R 1A3
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PARC · 1499 Queen St W · Toronto, On M6R 1A3 · Canada

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