Robert Manning

Housing in the neighbourhood – a view from the street

I’ve been in the DTES since 1995.  I lived at Heritage House Hotel. It’s called the Lotus now.  It was renting for $345 back then. Now it’s probably $550, if not more. I used to live in the Main Rooms. In 1998 it was $325.  Now it’s $450. I used to live in the Princess Rooms as well. A lot of the supportive housing places have really strict rules. You can’t say to a friend, “Come and visit me and have a cup of coffee.” It kind of violates your freedom in a sense. Even the businesses have changed.  I remember the old fashioned Save on Meats. You could take $50 in there and fill your freezer with meat, cold cuts and everything. For 75 cents you could get enough bologna for 2 weeks. Now for $50 you walk out with about half a bag; it’s totally opposite. (…)