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It‘s a crisis of growing national and provincial importance, and also one which is reâ€"appearing on the local political "agenda". Housing for lowerâ€"income families is becoming critical everywhere, and Waterloo is no exception. _ _ oo Council will again address the issue next Monday when Coun. John Shortreed will introduce a motion asking for a planning department report on the possibility of requiring developers to provide lowerâ€"cost housing in their developments New zoning regulations would. be required. Shortreed said he has been "concerned" for a while about several "shifts in our population". He cited the increasing proportion of smaller families and single parent families, the growth in the number of senior citizens and the virtual disappearance of inexpensive housing in the city as the university student population has grown. "Even when we get townhouses, they are larger‘" and have a high purchase price, said Shortreed. Shortreed said he is concerned about younger couples "who want to own their first unit", as well as seniors who may need less expensive ‘"We‘re not building any affordable housing. There‘s the odd apartment building and coâ€"op project and townhouse going up under government sponsorship. But when you look at the numbers that were producedbytheprivatenect.ormyemagoandwhatisinyroduced now, it is just not enough." Shortreed does not believe government can pick up the slack. He does, however believe that a requirement for developers to provide lowâ€"cost as well as higherâ€"cost housing could work if the city worked with the developer. "Left to their own devices, the developer could come up with their own creative solutions," he said. "Different developers work different ways, but I think the problem now is we‘re not asking them". Shortreed‘s proposal could be part of the solution in providing housing to some firstâ€"time buyers, said Ernie Ginsler, the executive director of the Social Planning Council for Waterloo region. "I applaud Coun. Shortreed for his suggestion, and it would help us along the way. But some work still has to be done to make the affordable housing affordable." Ginsler said Shortreed‘s suggestion of building single family dwellings on smaller lots would still result in houses with a price tag of around $100,000. "If you look at people on social assistance, the maximum available is $345 a month for shelter‘"‘. Intriguing studies at Wâ€"W Science Fair Wealth of information W & ,’/‘ and imagination l > Municipalities need to look at new zoning laws examining the possibilities of such actions as municipal land banking (where the municipality would buy up residential land,service it and make it available for affordable housing as it currently does industrial land), encouraging basement apartments and additions, and infill in existing residential neighborhoods, he said. Did you know women have longer feet than men in relation to their heights? Had you ever considered how many people prefer apples as their favorite fruit? Or the effects different acids and bases can have on egg shells when trying to paint them? Isobel Lawson Chronicle Staff Bluevale collegiate, last week, was host to a wealth of information as more than 260 students attended the 15th annual Waterlooâ€"Wellington Engineering and Sciâ€" ence Fair. The imagination was the limitâ€" ing factor as students from Grades 7 to 13, displayed more than 200 projects ranging from a study of apples, to complex research of superconductors Mike Robinson, a St. John‘s Kilmarnock student, was chosen as one of the top five exhibitors of the show for his project, Making a Superconductor. For his effort the 17â€"yearâ€"old, Grade 13 student received one of three awards of merit. He, along with four other winners, will be flown to Winnipeg to compete in the Canadaâ€"Wide science fair in May. Robinson, also won the senior physics award. The fair‘s top award was won by a Grade 8 student from Wilmot Senior in New Projects ranged from a variety of topics, but environmental issues were prominent with projects studying the effects of acid rain of aquatic plants to Bean Exhausted, lowerâ€"cost housing units In search of on the effects of car exhaust on Pamela Bryden a St. John‘s Kilmarnock Grade 13 student, sensed a different idea for a project. She did a smell test getting 48 subjects to sniff into four bags of sweatie Tâ€"shirts and determine whether the shirts were worn by a male or female. The idea for the project, which Bryden titled, How sweet we smell but...Boy you stink, came about from discussions she and her father had while doing the dishes. For her conclusions, she determined that people were "at least moderately accuâ€" rate" when chosing whether a man or woman wore the gym garb. She added, if the test subjects thought the odor was unpleasant they said the wearer was male, and the less unpleasant smell was female. Bryden won second prize in the semor division of life sciences. Bluevale collegiate Grade 10 students Colleen McCarthy and Marnie Thomson tackled the sizeable task of determining whether, as they had initially suspected, the size of women‘s feet were smaller than men‘s in relation to their height. For their efforts the 15â€"yearâ€"olds won first place in the intermediate division of life sciences for their project, Feet Facts. They found out, after analyzing the height and feet size of 120 volunteers, their hypothesis was wrong. Comparatively speaking woâ€" men‘s feet are larger in relation to their height than men. Thus, they suggest, women may have better balance than men. Nathan fingar and John Irving wanted to know more about what chemicals affect egg shells when they are painted with food Councilior John Shortreed shows an example of the kind of homes he thinks Waterioo council should be encouraging to help firstâ€"time homeowners get started. Locate at Bluevale St. and Mayfield Ave, the houses are smaller homes on smaller lots. It‘s government interference, "discriminatory" taxes and proposed taxes, and citizen participation in the housing approval process that is causing the housing shortage in Ontario, say local and provinâ€" cial representatives of the home builders industry. Samuel Head, a Kitchener planning consultant and a member of the board of directors of the Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo Home Builders®‘ Association cites the recent increase in lot levy charges in Kitchener as an example. ‘ ‘‘‘The cost of a residence in Kitchener just jumped $2,700," he said. The amount of "red tape" developers have to deal with also adds to delays and increased costs, he said. "There‘s too many people having too much involveâ€" ment in our industry. It takes a couple of years sometimes to bring land on stream for developâ€" ment." He also cited slow city hall staff and the variety of studies required of builders as added costs and frustrations. Head cited archeological, environmenâ€" tal and noise studies as examples of instances where Interference, red tapémm boost prices: builders coloring. In Irving‘s basement laboratory the two young scientists studied seven different chemicals using varying amounts of solutions on the 36 test eggs. They admitted to some surprise in their results, such as their expectation that the color of eggs would get darker as hydrochloric acid was added; not true the Grade 8 students found out. Their efforts resulted in a second place finish in the junior chemistry WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY APRIL 13, 1988 â€" PAGE 5 "you have to hire costly specialists." Furthermore, if neighbors do not like a project, they can oppose it right up to the Ontario Mupigipa_l Board. Larger projects, such as townhouses (which often provide lowâ€"cost housing) can be stalled by such tactics. Many builders won‘t even consider such projects because of the hassles involved, he said. Another problem is government intervention in the apartâ€" ment industry. "You‘re not going to find anyone building appartments out there with rent control". Hugh Heron, president of the Ontario Home Builders‘ Association thinks private enterprise can solve the housing shortage, but only with major changes in current practices. "If the government can create an environment where expectations can be redued, regulations reduced and subsidies go to people who need them, you‘ll see more housing for the firstâ€"time buyer. I have no doubt about that. That could happen very quickly. sion for her project, What Is It? Jennifer Butterworth and Jesse Clarke of Centennial won the junior chemistry division for Water Water Everywhere. Katie Haberstroh of St. John‘s Kilmarâ€" nock won the intermediate physics diviâ€" First placewinners from â€" Waterloo schools are: Laure} Prudham of Lincoin Heights won in the junior life science divsion for her project, The Taste of Colour.