The Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) is calling for nothing less than a “Marshall Plan” to tackle the repercussions of gentrification in the Parc-Extension district, where a booming university campus is pushing rents to the rise, hitting low-income tenants hard.
This request, inspired by a plan established following the Second World War to finance the reconstruction of European cities that had been hard hit by bombardments, is included in a 100-page report published without fanfare by the OCPM on March 22. The document thus marked the end of a third consultation in 15 years relating to the sector of the former Outremont marshalling yard, renamed “MIL Montréal”, on the border with the Parc-Extension district. This process, held last fall, took place in anticipation of the arrival within a few years of an elementary school in this sector as well as a new major pavilion in the eastern portion of the MIL campus of the ‘Montreal university.
If the modern and glazed school project of the Center de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys raised few concerns during this consultation, the situation is quite different for the upcoming expansion of the MIL campus, which is already pushing up rents and evictions. tenants on the rise in this sector, according to a report produced last year by a group of researchers and community organizations. Several residents and organizations thus expressed fear, during this consultation, of seeing the social fabric crumble in this neighborhood due to the apprehended departure of its less well-off residents. A concern shared by the OCPM, which raises in its report the importance of preventing a “homogenization of lifestyles” in Parc-Extension with the massive influx of students in this district.
“It is certain that an expansion of the campus will come to aggravate the phenomena that we already see in the neighborhood”, foresees moreover Amy Darwish, the community organizer of the Action Committee of Parc-Extension, one of the organizations that took part in this consultation.
“It is in this context that several of the commission’s recommendations invite municipal authorities to look into the mode of governance and urban planning practices relating to the development of MIL before it is too late to remedy some of its impacts. negative,” says the OCPM. The latter thus urges the City of Montreal to collaborate with the University in order to “quickly implement” measures to limit the repercussions of the gentrification of the Parc-Extension district. This phenomenon, notes the report, leads to “the relocation of the most sensitive populations” to the rapid rise in rents, in addition to affecting “small traders” and “community groups”. According to the OCPM, there is therefore an “urgency to act”.
“We really see the changes” related to gentrification, already underway, says Sasha Dyck, a neighborhood resident who works in the health sector. “I lose so many neighbors every year, it’s sad. »
Marshall Plan
The OCPM thus calls for the creation of a “Marshall plan” to limit the impacts of gentrification in the Parc-Extension district, “before the current trend is irreversible”. The organization did not detail what this eventual plan would contain, but many citizens and organizations raised during this public consultation the importance of increasing the number of social housing units planned for this site. In recent years, the University has ceded land to the City to dedicate it to social housing, while a developer plans to include 15% social housing and 15% affordable housing in his development project. 1,300 units at the MIL campus site, the report notes.
“We need significant investment in social housing in the neighborhood,” insists Ms. Darwish, who proposes to “remove buildings from the private market” to increase the number of social housing near the university campus.
“There are solutions that exist and it is absolutely necessary that the City and the other levels of government apply them in order to allow current tenants [du quartier] to stay in place,” insists the community organizer. The latter also reiterates a request mentioned many times during this consultation in favor of the construction of student residences on the site of the MIL campus. First considered, this option was finally rejected by the University for financial reasons.
“As far as student residences are concerned, the decision remains not to build any,” reiterated a spokesperson for the university establishment, Geneviève O’Meara, on Wednesday. However, the University has been preparing for several months an “ambitious action plan to specifically meet the needs of the population of Parc-Extension,” she adds.
The head of housing on the executive committee, Benoit Dorais, assured the Homework Wednesday that the City intends to “exceed” its objective of developing 225 social housing units in the area around the MIL campus. A cooperative of 91 social housing units is already under construction, indicates the elected official, while the City has identified 120 lots in the surroundings where it gives itself priority in purchasing at the time of sale, through its right of preemption. .
“We want to make sure to keep the mix in this sector,” insists Mr. Dorais, who confides that the City plans to acquire “another large piece of land” in this sector in the near future to build dozens of social or affordable housing units.