An event is taking place in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, which is quite extraordinary in North America. That community is largely one of single family homes — a suburb of the Halifax Regional Municipality.
‘Extraordinary’ in this post’s use means it doesn’t happen that often. Or, at the least, it happens more often and for some reason doesn’t get the publicity it deserves. Affordablehousingaction.org hopes to make certain the event is recognized for its essential humanity.
How does a Lower Sackville citizen’s group, called the Gated Community Association, differ from much day to day civic behaviour across the continent? Single family neighbourhood opinion of people who are homeless tends pretty much everywhere to be consistent and clear.
People who are homeless are almost inevitably ‘not wanted,’ in these communities, often reviled as a dangerous physical enemy to the presumed, social and conceptual beauty of North America’s single family housing suburbs. But this attitude dos not entirely prevail in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. Nor, presumably in other similar and remarkable, but unheralded, suburbs.
The photo at the head of this post is local baseball field in Lower Sackville. The google image is not current, otherwise it would show a growing collection of tents occupied by some of the people who can’t find housing in Halifax Regional Municipality. A more recent photo in the article below reflects the current use of this site.
The dominant story in the media would have you expecting attitudes of disgust and even fear toward people who are homeless. The proposed solution seems invariably to be to drive people who are living in tents out of the community and as far away as possible.
This is not, however, the attitude and approach of Lower Sackville’s Gated Community Association. Read more at the CBC: Lower Sackville neighbours band together to help residents of homeless encampment
