Rochester Heights
(At the corner of Gladstone Avenue and Booth Street)
Written by Bytown Museum
on
03/Dec/2009
Built in the mid-1960s at the intersection of Gladstone Avenue and Booth Street, Rochester Heights was one of the first social housing complexes in Ottawa. Some of its earliest residents were those forced out of Lebreton Flats when the Flats were razed.
The Ottawa Tenants' Council, one of Ottawa's most successful poverty organizations, got its start at Rochester Heights; the council operated into the early 1990s. One of the council's founders was honoured in 2004 when the Dorothy O'Connell monument to anti-poverty activism was unveiled on the grounds of City Hall.
As part of the social housing complex, Rochester Heights Community House provides a place for children to go for help with school and to participate in community projects and activities.
While the city is home to over 22,500 social housing units, the need for more social housing continues to be a challenge. In 2008, there were over 9,500 people on the wait list with a wait-time of up to five years.
