Homelessness. A Continual Feature.

 About one hundred years ago the Parkdale neighbourhood was a hang out for Toronto's rich and infamous, but these days it's one for folk who do have a pot but not a lot more. In Parkdale, there are 198 rooming houses, bachelorette buildings, community non-profit buildings that hold 2715 people. Bachelorettes are what are sometimes called micro-apartments. About 60 of these are at risk of being sold or converted into higher cost housing which would mean 818 people would lose their homes.

What has caused this is Toronto's present red hot real estate market which makes any dump that can be gussied up attractive to the developers. We all know its a bubble and like all bubbles will eventually burst, but the question is will it burst it time to save the residents who will be told to.''find a new home''.

For most of them, it won't be easy considering many receive Ontario Disability Support which pays the grand sum of $479 a month towards rent and people on Ontario Works receive up to $374.

The study on real estate speculation, upscaling and conversion, conducted by the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust, was given the hilarious title,''No Room For Unkept Promises - Parkdale Rooming House Study'', One can bet if they promise to kick you out on the street they will do exactly that.

One resident said, ''We are hanging on by a thread, I have this feeling that in 10 years Parkdale will be unrecognizable and I won't be here and I want to be here.'' It could well be that Parkdale will go back to being what it used to be, a residential area for capitalists, which will be another example of how little things change under capitalism despite its technological advances.

Another thing that won't change is people being made homeless. 

Steve and John.