Cabbagetown Info Events, reviews and what's happening in Cabbagetown, Toronto
About 50 Toronto Community Housing Corp. homes clustered in Cabbagetown are in dire need of maintenance and repair.
The homes are starting to disintegrate – roofs need replacing and century-old wood trimmings are rotting away. The total cost is estimated at $750 million, which includes 619 city-owned homes as well.
Why is it so costly might you ask? Well a once grand home just off Winchester St, needs $30,000 to $80,000 in roofing alone. It is expensive to fix because in order to preserve the historic nature of these homes (eg. slate vs. inexpensive asphalt roofs), the detail and quality of materials in older Victorian houses generally cost more than the generic cookie cutter homes.
The Cabbagetown committee has become very alarmed at the possibility of losing irreplaceable history, in an area known to have the biggest collection of Victorian houses left in North America. Fingers are pointing at the TCHC for conducting historically inappropriate replacements (see image above), and poor maintenance and quick repairs to these housing gems, which are being left to crumble.
