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StreetCities: Rehousing the Homeless
StreetCities charts the development of an alternative communal housing model for chronically homeless men and women in downtown Toronto. In her recounting of the stories and narratives of residents and staff at the original "StreetCity" and the second generation "Strachan House," Bridgman explores how living on the street (something often viewed as negative) has the potential to become a powerful emblem of community growth, tolerance, and caring. The histories of these two supportive housing projects are embedded within larger currents of governmental responses to homelessness in Canada, and the incorporation of photographs, interview narratives, and handwritten fieldnotes brings Bridgman's ethnographic research to life. StreetCities also includes a discussion of the architectural design and operation of the two housing projects, and the eventual closing of the original "StreetCity."
StreetCities is written for those who want to learn more about the work being done to help chronically homeless women and men. The book will be useful for researchers, policy-makers, service-providers, teachers, students, and activists working in the fields of homelessness and housing studies, social work, urban and applied anthropology, sociology, urban studies, and qualitative research methods.
StreetCities is written for those who want to learn more about the work being done to help chronically homeless women and men. The book will be useful for researchers, policy-makers, service-providers, teachers, students, and activists working in the fields of homelessness and housing studies, social work, urban and applied anthropology, sociology, urban studies, and qualitative research methods.
224 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2005
8 people want to read
About the author
Rae Bridgman
13 booksRae Bridgman is the author and illustrator of young adult fantasy adventure novels, including The Serpent’s Spell (Great Plains, 2006), which was a finalist for the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award, Amber Ambrosia (Great Plains, 2007) and Fish & Sphinx (Great Plains, 2008), which received an Honourable Mention by the Speculative Literature Foundation (2008) and was nominated for a Cybils Award in Fantasy and Science Fiction (2008). Reviews of her young adult novels have been glowing: “a unique feel,” “in a class of [their] own,” “sentence after sentence of melodiously evocative language,” “superb page-turning flight of fancy,” “characters are exciting and fresh and the [plots are] fast-paced and creative,” and “extraordinary in a delightfully ordinary way.”
She is a Professor in the Department of City Planning, in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba. She is also the author of StreetCities: Rehousing the Homeless (Broadview Press, 2006) and Safe Haven: The Story of a Shelter for Homeless Women (University of Toronto Press, 2003), co-author of Braving the Street: The Anthropology of Homelessness (Berghahn Books, 1999) and co-editor of Feminist Fields: Ethnographic Insights (Broadview Press, 1999). She has been the recipient of many research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is a practicing visual artist with many exhibitions and arts grants to her name.
As well, Rae Bridgman is an urban planner and founding member of BridgmanCollaborative Architecture, an award-winning Winnipeg architectural firm that specializes in new design and heritage buildings, participatory design and planning, green architecture and community revitalization.
She is a member of CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers, SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), CCBC (Canadian Children's Book Centre), the Writers' Union of Canada, SF Canada (Canada's National Association for Speculative Fiction Professionals), Manitoba Writers' Guild and Winnipeg's Writers' Collective.
She grew up on an old farm in Maple, Ontario north of Toronto, and earned her B.A. (classics) and Bachelor of Music at the University of Toronto, and her Master's (interdisciplinary studies) and PhD (cultural anthropology) at York University.
She is a Professor in the Department of City Planning, in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba. She is also the author of StreetCities: Rehousing the Homeless (Broadview Press, 2006) and Safe Haven: The Story of a Shelter for Homeless Women (University of Toronto Press, 2003), co-author of Braving the Street: The Anthropology of Homelessness (Berghahn Books, 1999) and co-editor of Feminist Fields: Ethnographic Insights (Broadview Press, 1999). She has been the recipient of many research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is a practicing visual artist with many exhibitions and arts grants to her name.
As well, Rae Bridgman is an urban planner and founding member of BridgmanCollaborative Architecture, an award-winning Winnipeg architectural firm that specializes in new design and heritage buildings, participatory design and planning, green architecture and community revitalization.
She is a member of CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers, SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), CCBC (Canadian Children's Book Centre), the Writers' Union of Canada, SF Canada (Canada's National Association for Speculative Fiction Professionals), Manitoba Writers' Guild and Winnipeg's Writers' Collective.
She grew up on an old farm in Maple, Ontario north of Toronto, and earned her B.A. (classics) and Bachelor of Music at the University of Toronto, and her Master's (interdisciplinary studies) and PhD (cultural anthropology) at York University.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 20, 2024
I could’ve finished this in like two days but I got sidetracked. Very interesting though. My new favourite thing is autoethnography, after reading this. I should get into that, I would love it. Honouring and documenting loved experiences, learning along the way, and sharing that knowledge with others.
Useful exploration of grassroots social change and the troublesome dynamics with reworking an idea that will continually shift, being reliant on government funding, and working within structures and stigmas of society (ie. criminalization of drug use). Toeing the line between respecting people and accepting them as they are while trying to encourage recovery from substance additions and promote stable incomes and housing, but having limited control as a small organization.
For a random book I thrifted years ago, despite being “outdated” (1999-2003), it still taught me a lot and could be a useful model for transitional housing, and even a guidebook for unrelated grassroots social change projects.
Useful exploration of grassroots social change and the troublesome dynamics with reworking an idea that will continually shift, being reliant on government funding, and working within structures and stigmas of society (ie. criminalization of drug use). Toeing the line between respecting people and accepting them as they are while trying to encourage recovery from substance additions and promote stable incomes and housing, but having limited control as a small organization.
For a random book I thrifted years ago, despite being “outdated” (1999-2003), it still taught me a lot and could be a useful model for transitional housing, and even a guidebook for unrelated grassroots social change projects.
May 7, 2021
#readingchallenge2021 (my book in which someone has the same job as me)
As a fellow Anthropologist, I discovered Bridgeman’s work while writing my own thesis on the exploration of a homeless ‘street city’ in Philly, PA. I used many pieces of his research as a basis of comparison, using his interviews, housing studies, and definitions to build on my own findings.
Re-reading now, years post my research, I wanted to just take in the narrative as a story compared to originally skimming for what I needed in research. In re-reading, I enjoyed the flow of his ethnographic research ‘brought to narrative’- he spliced in well the hard hitting concepts of ‘homelessness’ & ‘housing projects’ with the personalized stories and experiences, in a way that held my engagement. While non-fiction, case study-ish, it reads creatively.
As a fellow Anthropologist, I discovered Bridgeman’s work while writing my own thesis on the exploration of a homeless ‘street city’ in Philly, PA. I used many pieces of his research as a basis of comparison, using his interviews, housing studies, and definitions to build on my own findings.
Re-reading now, years post my research, I wanted to just take in the narrative as a story compared to originally skimming for what I needed in research. In re-reading, I enjoyed the flow of his ethnographic research ‘brought to narrative’- he spliced in well the hard hitting concepts of ‘homelessness’ & ‘housing projects’ with the personalized stories and experiences, in a way that held my engagement. While non-fiction, case study-ish, it reads creatively.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews