GEOG 352
DAY 8
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
• Sorry for the disruptive impact of my being off
sick, but we will pull things back together.
• For starters, the communication problems have
been sorted out, and the assignments instructions
are up on the web site. The outlne for the major
project is due Tuesday. October 13th. The project
itself is due November 26th. If you have any
questions about your project, don’t hesitate to
buttonhole me and we’ll talk after class. You can
also send me a draft of your outline for comments
or send me your initial thoughts about your case
study.
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
• We will likely do the review for the final exam
on October 20th, and hold the exam on the
22nd. We’ll see how we’re doing with the
readings.
• Is anyone scheduled to present today?
Social Sciences Pizza lunch
event on Tuesday the 6th in
Building 356 from 12 to 1:30,
probably on the main floor
atrium
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
• Were the library talks useful?
• What did you think about the facilitation by
Michele Patterson of the group discussions,
and the talk on the economic evaluation of
nature by Maria Inês? I put her talk on the
web site.
• Upcoming event: the film “Bikes vs. Cars” on
Wednesday, October 7th at 6:30 in Building
250, Room 125; by donation.
• Also: Sustainability Fair, Thursday, October 8th
11:30 to 2 in the Library Quad.
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
• Who presented last week. I would like to get
feedback from the rest of the class.
• A message from Janeane in the Dean’s office: You
may have noticed the 25 quotes posted on some of
the windows (see attached) on the 3rd floor B356
today; they’re for getting your photo taken with at
the Bachelor of Arts table at VIU Open House this Fri
Oct 2 from 10:00 to 3:00 in the Upper
Cafeteria. More info about our table at
https://www.facebook.com/viusocialsciences and
on the VIU Open House:
https://u.viu.ca/openhouse.
HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS
• Thanks to everyone who responded to my test message.
• Bring your LUNCH AND LEARN about research at VIU
featuring Michele Patterson, VIU Geography Dept, PhD
Geography Candidate, University of Victoria.
• WHAT IS A FARMED SALMON? Understanding the social life of a
seafood commodity from ocean to table
• Over the last few decades the world’s seafood economy has
increasingly become both aquaculture-based and globally
traded. BC farmed Atlantic salmon is a globally traded, farmed
seafood product that is also highly politicized here in British
Columbia. This research will capture and characterize the "social
life" of farmed salmon using participant observation and informal
interviews amongst people who produce, process, transport,
prepare, sell and eat farmed Atlantic salmon; in research sites
across two BC and two California communities.
• Tuesday October 6, noon-1pm
• Bldg 305/4th Floor Lounge
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
• What is the definition of ‘affordable housing’?
• According to Wikipedia, “In economics, market failure is
when the allocation of goods and services by a free
market is not efficient. That is, there exists another
conceivable outcome where a market participant may
be made better-off without making someone else worseoff.” What does ‘market failure’ mean in the housing
context?
• Why is affordable housing in short supply in Vancouver and
even, increasingly, on the Island/ Gulf Islands?
• Of possible interest:
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2014/09/blog-spotlightsbeautiful-empty-homes-vancouver/.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
• Ch. 4: Uniting the “I” and “We”: Affordable Housing in Perpetuity
• - Since 2008, housing prices in some parts of the U.S. have
declined causing people to owe more than their house is worth
(the infamous NINJA loans: No Income, No Job or Assets)
-Community Land Trust Model in USA
•
-land trusts develop affordable housing by separating the two cost
elements
•
-by removing the land from the market and placing it into a CLT, the
unearned equity resulting from rising land values is taken out of the
equation
•
-based on Gramdan (village land trust in India)
•
--First land trust in Georgia in 1967
•
1) Non-profit, tax-exempt corporations
•
2) very flexible
•
3) allow dual ownership and dynamic property rights
•
4) make leased land and housing affordable [
•
5) allow open and place-based membership
•
6) tripartite governance
CHAMPLAIN HOUSING LAND TRUST
• The Champlain Housing Trust: Restoring the commons- An Affordable
Solution
•
-land trust was started in Burlington, with the Burlington Community
Land Trust and Lake Champlain Housing Development Corporation with a
$200,000 grant from the city, and later $1million line of credit from the city
employee’s pension fund
•
-Two groups merged to become the Champlain Housing Trust
•
-Currently has over 2000 units of affordable housing
•
-2 ownership centres: Burlington and St. Albans
•
-also offer home maintenance courses
•
-financing packages offer down payment grants
•
-CHT mobilizes its membership to contribute to a pool of funds that it
used to cover operating costs; currently there is 4000 members in an area
with 100,000 people
•
-CHT also developed a day center for the elderly, a nursery facility,
social enterprise and non-profit offices, a storefront for the local credit
union, a legal advice center and a multi-unit business incubator
•
-See pg. 92 for CHT Homeland Grant program
COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS IN THE UK
• -Community Land Trusts in Britain: Rekindling Land
Reform in the 21st Century
•
-1899: Ebenezer Howard established a “cooperative
land society”, First Garden City Ltd, and initially raised
20,000 pounds to “buy cities and land that could be
owned collectively”
•
-Letchworth, Hertfordshire was launched in 1903,
population grew to 33,000 and thrived for a short period
•
-Much of the land eventually became public land,
but some has been restore with 999 year leases, and
homes with 99 year leases
•
-see pg. 100 for funding available for CLTs in
England and Wales
• Also being developed in Vancouver.
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MUTUAL HOMEOWNERSHIP MODEL: SCALING
UP URBAN AFFORDABILITY
--inspired and informed by 3 models: Letchworth in
England, American CLTs, and a tenant-owned co-op
model from Sweden
-Swedish model: “Mother” co-ops develop new coops and mobilize low-cost financing, smaller co-ops
manage themselves
-tenants also bring money to the table
-see pg. 102 for the Mutual Home Ownership
Society Shared Equity Co-op Housing
-Mortgage on cost of building is shared by tenants
• -A Closer Look At Mutuality and Equity
• -see pg.104 for mutual home ownership: monthly costs
and equity shares for two-incomes household
SCALING UP MUTUALITY
• -Mutual home ownership is affordable for the following
reasons: lease payments are a set ratio (35 percent) of
net household
• -Lower-income members can acquire equity shares (in
ten years, the equity available to low-income members
is almost equal to their annual income)
• -members can buy more shares as their incomes rise
• -transaction costs are reduced, properties are not
bought and sold
• -over longer term, borrowing costs should be cheaper
as longer-term financing is secured from pension funds
• -the linkage to average earnings helps reduce the risk
and maintains affordability of the home
IMPACTS ON HOUSEHOLD ECONOMIES
• -The household economy: land trust impacts on
transition
• -see table 4.5, pg. 107 for 10-year savings by adding in
land trust
• -Transition factors
• -commons is countercultural as property ownership is
embedded in modern psyche
• -affordable housing:
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-frees up income to afford healthy food
•
-reduces stress due to housing insecurity
•
-enables families to participate in community life
•
-have been proven to contribute to better
education and more sociable environment for children