HOUSING NOT THE ONLY CHALLENGE FOR SENIORS
A BRESLAU APARTMENT BUILDING approved this week by Woolwich council will not be as troublesome as neighbours fear it will. Likewise, it’s not going to be the boon those selling the project claim.
The underlying argument for the 78-unit apartment building is to allow seniors to stay in the community even if they choose to downsize from the single-family homes that are the norm in Breslau. But this is not a seniors’ complex, so there’s no control over who rents the units. While instigated by the Breslau Mennonite Church, this is a private venture, launched with profit in mind.
It’s a safe bet that there will be seniors who opt to live there, especially those associated with the church. Those numbers alone aren’t likely to be profitable. The developer will want to fill the apartments as quickly as possible with those willing to part with the rent money. There may well be a demand for rentals in the village that is currently going unmet.
The larger hurdle for a focus on seniors’ housing is the same one to be found in all smaller communities: there are no nearby amenities, meaning that people who live in such buildings will continue to rely on their personal vehicles for everything from grocery shopping to medical appointments, the latter being on average a larger part of the daily lives of seniors.
Such issues are already a concern for housing in Elmira, which has more services than anything available in Breslau today and for the foreseeable future, despite large growth projections. There may well be some additional retail, business and service opportunities down the road, but not in time to meet the demands of those seeking housing today ... and certainly not in the kind of distances envisioned by those pushing for walkable communities.
Transit is another concern. To be sure, there are those pushing for Grand River Transit to extend service into Breslau despite the failure of the service to catch on in the more populous stretch between Elmira and Waterloo, but that’s neither practical nor an expense worth discussing.
An aging population presents many challenges to government services, from federal health care and income assistance right through to municipal programming. Into that environment, it makes sense that residents will need a greater range of services and access to them. Smaller communities such as Woolwich just aren’t equipped for that, nor is it likely they’ll ever be.
Much as newcomers to the country end up in larger urban centres because they are a huge draw on social services, seniors will find disadvantages to staying in small communities. It’s not feasible for Woolwich to have the full range of offerings – from medical care to shopping amenities – that can be found in, say, Kitchener, which itself doesn’t have the resources of Toronto.
A township report on age-friendly communities notes, senior residents would like to be able to walk to a grocery store, by way of example, as a means of staying in the township’s smaller communities. That’s just not going to happen in places like Breslau, Conestogo or Maryhill – the government isn’t going to get into the supermarket business.
The Breslau Mennonite Church project may have merits as an apartment building in a community short on rental options, but the seniors’ angle is not a real selling feature.