I’ve spent the past few weeks talking with city staff and officials, representatives from neighbourhood associations and social service providers.
I wanted to try and better understand how and why supportive housing in Nanaimo is being built primarily in central and south areas of the city and get a sense of how this is impacting the neighbourhoods the housing is located in.
In neighbourhoods where new supportive housing has been built, including my own, community association leaders told me there have been remarkably few problems at the buildings.
I hope that my story today, and the one I published last week about a proposed supportive housing building in the Newcastle neighbourhood, helps move the conversation about how best to integrate supportive housing in our community forward and provides context for that discussion.
Thank you for reading,
Mick Sweetman
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| Where supportive housing in Nanaimo is located and why
| How two neighbourhood associations are welcoming supportive housing residents.
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| Read the full story
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🌊 Comox has recently been designated as a Bee City, with plans to make more space for pollinators. Read the buzz around town by Comox Valley reporter Madeline Dunnett.
🌊 After a landmark ruling grants Quw'utsun Nation the title to Tl’uqtinus summer village and nearby fishing rights on the southern arm of the Fraser River, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nation see it as a “disheartening” betrayal. David Ball reports.
🌊 The Lower Cowichan River Cleanup brings families and community groups together to protect the watershed and prepare for the salmon’s return. Cowichan Valley reporter Eric Richards has the story.
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👉 The ongoing trade war with the United States has shoppers hitting local farmers markets this year with a 30 per cent increase reported by the Island Roots market at Beban Park. CHLY 101.7FM has the story.
👉 Close enough to melt windows of homes, property loss was barely prevented during the Wesley Ridge Wildfire this month, according to firefighters who battled the blaze. Nanaimo News Now has the story about how crews from across Vancouver Island fought the flames.
👉 A new bicycle pump track is planned for Cedar next to the skatepark by Cedar Community School. The Stevie Smith Legacy Foundation will pay for the new track next to the high school where Stevie Smith graduated. The Nanaimo News Bulletin has the story.
👉 The 35-square kilometre Mount Underwood Wildfire is now being held but the main road to Bamfield remains closed and some properties remain under evacuation orders and alerts.
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