A Lindenlea History
Lindenlea may be one of the city’s most fashionable and sought-after neighbourhoods today, but in its early days it was enveloped in scandal and shunned by buyers.
Lindenlea began life in the early 1900s as one of Canada’s first planned communities and low-income developments, but it was laid low by what can only be called poor planning.
The developers of this tiny neighbourhood tucked between New Edinburgh and Rockcliffe Park got a lot wrong - but what they got right ultimately made it an idyllic place to live. The Lindenlea story is so good, and its place in Canadian housing history so important, it is still studied in university urban planning classes.
Lindenlea was designed to be the Canadian prototype of a trendy British planning idea of the time, the Garden City suburb, a neighbourhood with curving, tree-lined streets and quiet cul de sacs, plenty of park space, and tennis courts.
The community was the brainchild of Thomas Adams, who has been called the "godfather of Canadian planning."
Governments were under tremendous pressure in the early 1900s to do something about drastic housing shortages in Canadian cities.
Soaring rents meant many workers lived in squalid, overcrowded housing. The city’s top health official warned many were living in places "not fit for habitation and never could be made so."
At the same time, building costs were so high that by 1918 new home construction ground to a halt and it was clear things would only get worse as soldiers returned from the Great War.
The federal government decided to launch its first major housing initiative - an emergency program offering low-interest loans for reasonably priced homes.
One of the key people behind the effort was Adams, a Scotsman who brought to Canada the ideas of Britain’s Garden City movement, such as environmental standards and local control over planning.
Adams hoped Lindenlea would become a model for the country.
The city paid $67,570 for the 22-acre site, which was divided into 168 lots. Adams called for 10 per cent of the land to be set aside for parkland and recreation areas.
He also had strong opinions about how the new community’s homes should be designed and where they should be placed on the lots. When some of those ideas were ignored, Adams disassociated himself from the project.
In fact, the neighbourhood never did become the haven for low-income families that government officials originally envisioned.
Lindenlea houses were small, but their price tag was still high enough to put them out of reach for most working-class families and returning soldiers.
At the same time, the fact the federal housing scheme would loan only $4,500 for any house meant builders were leaving off basics such as verandas, front steps and double windows. And as a city official testifying before a special Parliamentary committee succinctly put it: "That resulted in a partially completed house and of course no one wants to buy a house like that."
Unhappy buyers, meanwhile, were complaining about leaky roofs, unfinished flooring and inadequate wiring.
Things got so bad the city’s entire housing commission had to resign. A special audit uncovered financial irregularities and it eventually came to light that over $82,000 was missing.
The housing commission’s secretary was convicted of cooking the books and imprisoned. Both the city treasurer and auditor quit over the scandal.
Lindenlea has done more than just recover from those disastrous beginnings. It has thrived.
The green spaces and a novel street layout have made it attractive to families looking for a quiet place to live near the downtown core. Most of those small houses have been added to and renovated. The community has successfully fought city hall to ensure trees are protected and local roads remain narrow to slow traffic.
Lindenlea has a strong community spirit today, with neighbours getting together for events such as a Canada Day pancake breakfast and a December sleigh ride and chili dinner. Houses often sell even before a For Sale sign has been spiked into the ground.
It’s all proof that while the early execution may have fallen short, there was a lot of merit in the original Lindenlea plan.
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