Cyclic Demographics in the Glebe
I was wondering if the outflow of families to the suburbs in the postwar period resulted in a significant decrease in the costs of renting or purchasing a home in the Glebe? What has been done to prevent the Glebe from falling into another 'low-cost city housing' neighbourhood that are popular in some of the larger American cities?
Many of the Glebe's large, three-story homes were built to accommodate live-in servants on the third floor, probably a nanny and a cook-housekeeper. It sounds very class-conscious today, but having the assistance of two live-in servants in 1900 was probably about the same as having the assistance of two cars per family today. These servants quarters gave the Glebe's housing stock a flexibility that was useful later on.
The population of the Glebe in the 1930's grew to 14,000, as almost all vacant lots were filled with housing. Then during WWII, many Glebe single-family homes were converted to rooming houses or apartments to accommodate the influx of civil servants and military personnel who moved here to support the war effort. By 1945, the Glebe population peaked at 15,500. After the war, the return of service men, and the establishment of Carleton College (later Carleton University) in the Glebe at First Avenue and Lyon Street kept pressure up on the local housing market.
According to David Farr 'A Church in the Glebe: St. Matthew's, Ottawa, the Glebe population had fallen to 13,175 by 1951. This decline continued to 12,146 by 1975 and 10,628 by 1988. Housing prices, however, climbed steadily since the mid-1950's, when the average price of a single detached home was $16,000. This reached $20,000 by the mid-1960s, $40,000 by 1975, and to $250,000 by 1988. (Remember to factor in inflation here.)
It is true that the drift to the suburbs contributed to a shrinking Glebe population during the 50's and 60's, as Glebe tenants became suburban home owners. Still, the flexibility of most of the housing stock (functioning as single family homes, apartments, or rooming houses) kept demand for accommodation in the Glebe steady.
It is true that many by the 1960's, many large, older homes had been allowed to deteriorate, and Bank Street in the Glebe had empty storefronts when suburban malls began to offer free parking and more competitive pricing. There has been quite a change over in business types on Bank Street over the last 50 years, with small privately owned stores and shops being replaced by franchise outlets.
The turn around started in the 1970's, when single families began moving back into the Glebe, reclaiming housing stock, and refurbishing it for nuclear family use. Often, these were two-income families, with spending power to keep Bank Street merchants viable, and draw new businesses here.