Housing for All

Can three levels of government join hands with real estate developers, non-profits, and private citizens to build a residential community that's urban, vibrant, and best of all, affordable? Consider Toronto's St. Lawrence neighbourhood, and you'll find the answer is resoundingly "Yes!" In Housing for All, Frank Lewinberg -- the architect-planner who identified the derelict industrial lands for development as a young city planner and was responsible for the neighbourhood's master plans from 1973 to 1975 -- and photographer-writer Vincenzo Pietropaolo have provided a history of the St. Lawrence neighbourhood. They first walked these streets in the early 1970s, as a housing crisis and rising interest rates loomed over Canada. Now home to 10,000 residents of mixed incomes, cultural backgrounds, and professions, the area is filled with blooming green spaces and multiple accessible, affordable housing options seamlessly integrated into the heart of downtown Toronto. But what is the key to its success, and why hasn't it been replicated? How can this model urban neighbourhood inspire innovative solutions to today's housing problems? With stunning photographs, key interviews, and first-hand accounts of St. Lawrence's development, Housing for All tells the richly detailed history of one of Canada's most successful mixed-income neighbourhoods, delivering lessons and recommendations for the future of affordable urban living.