I’ve been following the debate about the Aurora Place development. It seems to me that there are a few issues that haven’t been explained correctly.
I lived in Akinsdale Gardens for two years and I have seen the issues brought up by some people.
During the time we lived in Akinsdale Gardens, two units were burnt down (by the same child), a dog was hung in the school playground (by a child residing in the Gardens condo complex), the police drove through usually twice a day, made numerous arrests and the feral cat colony grew and decreased. It wasn’t uncommon for unsupervised children ranging in ages from four to 16 to run around in gangs, breaking and burning things, terrorizing pets, invading personal areas and leaving trash scattered all over.
This seems to be the sort of thing the residents of Akinsdale are concerned will be happening in the new development.
I’ve also been trying, unsuccessfully, to find a development plan for the Aurora Place complex. I’m very interested to see how Habitat for Humanity intends to fit a 30-unit complex into the space. I’m also wondering where are they suggesting those people park? Maybe their plan is that the residences won’t all have a vehicle, but that seems short-sighted. Akinsdale Gardens is crowded enough and they each have two parking stalls. Habitat for Humanity has already gotten around the bylaw on how far away the units will be from each other. What about the privacy of the existing neighbours? I know I would feel awfully uncomfortable having lots of windows close to my bedroom.
As for the proposed green space, all you need to do is look at the green spaces in Akinsdale Gardens to see how that will end up — scorched grass from lack of watering, burn marks from teens, cigarette butts, discarded condoms, slurpee cups and the feral cats that come with most low-income housing.
The feral cats are an issue for me. When we moved into a rental property in Akinsdale Gardens there were one or two wild cats wandering around and their numbers quickly ballooned as they began having kittens. I started feeding them and researching how to change the situation. I contacted the condo board, the humane society and the Edmonton City Pound.
The information I found, via Alley Cat Allies (a non-profit group in the U.S., www.alleycat.org), indicated that feral colonies commonly spring up in low-income housing areas due to dumping pets and letting unaltered animals wander and reproduce freely.
I was told by the humane society, the pound and the condo board that the best solution was to trap the animals and have them euthanized. My research told me that wouldn’t solve the issue as there are always more abandoned animals that will move in.
I followed the Alley Cat Allies Trap-Neuter-Release program and greatly reduced the colony for a time.
What do feral cats have to do with Aurora Place? It is one of the many problems that commonly go along with low-income housing. I am not saying ban the Habitat for Humanity development or that it will be overrun with thugs, drug dealers, and irresponsible parenting. What I am saying is why build new low-income housing before the current issues have been dealt with? Why not start by fixing up Akinsdale Gardens, then work on a better plan to build attractive houses or condos that are more realistically spaced?
In general it sounds like Habitat for Humanity has a good idea. Help people buy an affordable home where they can get a good start and help out others too. Sounds great. The issue here is in the follow through. Cramming as many people as possible into a small area makes for upset neighbours. Cramped living situations almost always result conflict where people are forced to live closer than their comfort zones allow.
I think that low-income housing is needed in St. Albert. However, I don’t believe that the Aurora development is the way to do it.
Becky Shepherd, St. Albert
