Give churches a new mission

Could Waterloo Region’s houses of worship hold the key that unlocks the doors to more local, affordable housing?

It’s an intriguing question municipal politicians should ponder in the wake of a study that suggests new residential developments along the light rail transit line could become too expensive for many working people.

The new report by University of Waterloo researchers examined what happened in Toronto’s mixed-use neighbourhoods between 1991 and 2006 and offers a cautionary tale for this region.

These desirable Toronto neighbourhoods — which blend residential projects with shops, offices and other businesses — eventually had the least affordable housing in the city.

As it turns out, mixed-use developments are precisely the kind being built and planned along the LRT line in Kitchener and Waterloo.

So although this region’s real estate market differs from Toronto’s, the lack of affordable housing could become a huge issue in the Kitchener and Waterloo cores after the light rail trains start running this year.

Land prices have already risen along the LRT corridor because high-income earners are drawn to its vibrant urban lifestyle, which offers lots of shopping, entertainment and job opportunities as well as convenient public transit.

All this gives developers another reason to build high-end housing.

When that happens — as in Toronto — people in lower paying jobs are priced out of the mixed-use areas.

That’s not how to build healthy cities. It creates segregated neighbourhoods and greater divisions between the affluent and less affluent.

Aware of this threat, local municipal leaders are considering incentives for developers who provide affordable housing — or changing zoning rules to prod them to do so.

But in addition to this, municipal leaders should think out of the box and consider turning to local churches for help.

Many churches in Kitchener’s and Waterloo’s cores are struggling to stay open for their aging, dwindling congregations.

At least some would consider redeveloping their valuable properties to create more affordable housing. Helping others, after all, is part of their mission. Trinity United Church is a prime example of this. For more than a decade, its congregation tried to redevelop its site on Frederick Street in Kitchener, just metres from the LRT line. Affordable housing was to be a major component of the project.

Unfortunately, the congregation was unable to go forward, sold the building last year and moved into another downtown church building.

Trinity isn’t the first church to recently close its building in a local downtown, nor will it be the last.

But had it been offered help from municipal leaders, perhaps its dream could have become reality.

Churches like it are rich in land but poor in the funding and experience it takes to launch a major redevelopment project.

Local municipal governments have staff dedicated to economic development and meeting community needs. The regional government has a budget for social housing.

The trend in transforming churches has already taken off in Toronto, where many congregations have turned over space for seniors apartments and affordable housing.

Why can’t it happen here, too?