Abstract Outline!

Are Laneway Houses the Most Affordable Type of Low Income Housing in

Downtown Kamloops?

By: Teralynn Ledger

The research done for this project is meant to prove whether or not laneway houses are the most affordable type of low income housing in downtown Kamloops. Will building a series of affordable laneway homes in downtown Kamloops be a better solution to the low income housing problem then building apartment buildings. Focusing this research on affordable housing is important since there are many “… factors making finding and sustaining occupancy in suitable housing  increasingly difficult for low and moderate income households” (Low-Income Housing Goes Upscale, 2004, p.192). This research will be found by looking into the construction of a laneway house in downtown and then comparing this housing type to an apartment building. Living in a laneway house can be similar to life in a small house which means that “the space is tight, but all the basic living functions are covered in four small rooms: kitchen and dining area, bathroom, living room, and bedroom” (Zeiger, 2009, p.153). By looking into the topics of low income housing, apartment living, and small house living the importance of building affordable laneway houses will be discovered.

Once the researching stage of this project has been completed, the research will need to be applied to a real project. The data collected from the construction of a laneway house in downtown Kamloops will be compared to existing data from the construction of a low income apartment building also in the downtown core. The research done on these two different housing types will be compared in order to determine whether or not the laneway house is a more affordable type of low income housing than an apartment. Research will also be done on the type of demographic that will live in this laneway house. This laneway house can be a house for a university student who needs a small, starter home or this can be a house “… for the long term, grandfather living in a guest house nearby…” (Nettleton, p.192). This research will be tied into the different types of housing research to come up with an overall report that is well researched and cohesive.

These results will need to be organized in a manner that is clear to understand and that can be applied to the future construction of more laneway houses in downtown Kamloops. A series of charts and graphs will be made in order to display the data comparison. Construction components such as cost of construction, cost of materials, cost of land, and cost to rent or buy the unit once completed will be compared in the format of a bar graph. An AutoCAD image will also be produced in order to illustrate the effect that building laneway houses will have on the downtown core. The number of lots available to build apartments on is minimal since there are not too many vacant lots in this dense residential area. The AutoCAD image will mainly show the impact that building laneway houses will have on the area. The different forms in which the results are displayed allow for a strong conclusion and create a good starting point for further research. The housing type that is proven to be the most affordable low income housing option for this downtown core will be the more prominent of the two in the resulting graphs and images.

In addition to the bar graphs and the AutoCAD drawings, there will be a 3D view created using Revit Architecture and found below shows the researched laneway house, along with the surrounding houses, from the lane. The Revit image of the laneway house will be compared to an image of an apartment building that is also located in downtown Kamloops.

The existing houses are shown on the left side of this image and they are accessed by Douglas Street, in downtown Kamloops. The Laneway house on the right side of the image is the house that is going to be researched throughout its construction and pictures of it, along with researched data, will be included in the finished report.

 

This is a picture of the Columbia Manor apartment building, located in downtown Kamloops. It was copied from http://www.kelsongroup.com/details/columbia-manor/ on April 4, 2013. This image is meant to show the relationship between the street, located in the bottom left of the image and the apartment building.

The first image shows the relation between the laneway house and the lane, as well as its relation to the previously constructed houses around it. The laneway image will be included in the report and can be shown to various groups in order to prove that laneway houses do not make the area too dense, but instead make the area look like a more diverse neighbourhood. The second image shows a low income apartment building that has already been built. The contrast between these two images will show how these two types of housing options would be different to live in. The laneway house is in a surrounded by other small, residential houses in the area and looks inviting and comfortable for a low income housing option. While the second image shows an apartment that is located on a busy street downtown and the surrounding buildings are not all residential. The majority of the people that fall into the different demographics included in this research may not be as comfortable living in this low income apartment building as they may be with living in a laneway house. These two images are meant to raise questions with regards to the look and curb appeal of these two types of low income housing options. They are meant to help prove whether or not the laneway house is the best low income housing option in downtown Kamloops.

References Cited

                           

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