Income disparities growing in Montreal
While Montreal鈥檚 smoked meat, bagels and 肠颈苍辩-脿-蝉别辫迟蝉 haven鈥檛 changed over the years, other things have. One major change is the differences of income among the city鈥檚 residents.
Researchers from the 重口味SM-based have found that income disparities among Montreal-area neighbourhoods have increased over the past 30 years.
"Knowing the extent of of the growing socio-spatial divide and the specific trends at a metropolitan area level allows social agencies and public policy makers to better understand existing social needs and better understand causes," says Professor David Hulchanski, principal investigator of the Neighbourhood Change project. "Governments at all levels can take remedial action should they choose to do so."
Interestingly, these differences in income among Montrealers haven鈥檛 changed as dramatically as they have among residents of Toronto and Vancouver, say researchers Damaris Rose and Amy Twigge-Molecey of INRS University.
鈥淲e hope the research will stimulate critical debate about how policy actors at all levels of government can effect changes that can create a more socially-just metropolitan city,鈥 says Rose. 鈥淎t a minimum, this means a city where all residents, regardless of their income, their neighbourhood, and their personal mobility, can benefit from high quality public, community and commercial services, facilities and amenities.鈥
The researchers tracked how well neighbourhoods were doing in terms of their residents鈥 average incomes compared to those of Greater Montreal as a whole.
The study revealed that the share of middle-income neighbourhoods slipped from 64 per cent to 55 per cent between 1970 and 2005. During that same time, the share of low-income neighbourhoods on the Island of Montr茅al grew from 22 per cent to 37 per cent. And in off-island suburbs, the share of poor neighbourhoods jumped from 3 per cent to 19 per cent while the share of affluent neighbourhoods rose from 15 per cent to 18 per cent.
Changes to Montreal鈥檚 neighbourhoods can be traced back to the 1970s, when Canada鈥檚 financial centre and affluent residents moved to Toronto.
Although traditional manufacturing industries collapsed, Montreal reinvented itself as a knowledge- and culture-based economy, which has fuelled gentrification of the inner city, note the researchers.
With the rise of the francophone middle class, the outer suburbs mushroomed. With big changes to immigration policy, middle-class areas also become more diverse. But Montreal鈥檚 poverty map also looks different today as low-income newcomers cluster in post-war apartment districts.
鈥淯nlike more polarized cities,鈥 says Rose, 鈥渘eighbourhoods that are relatively stable, where a majority of residents have middle incomes, are still found all over Greater Montr茅al.鈥
Rose attributes Montreal鈥檚 relative success to an array of factors, including affordable housing, strong community services and dependable public transit.
The NCRP is a coalition of university researchers that examines inequality in Canadian cities. It will soon be updating their findings to 2010, for several other cities including Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Halifax.