Mustafa Dikeç’s article “Police, Politics and the Right to the City”, one of the assigned readings, describes the issues involved with the Grand Ensembles in Paris, and how although they had their social issues, they were not a “crisis of the suburbs”, rather a social issue that faced the city, and not just the suburbs. Dikeç begins with an explanation that although the Grand Ensembles were social housing, they differed from the North American thought picture of social housing. However there is a direct correlation between the Grand Ensembles and slum like areas in North America, not specifically areas assigned to social housing but areas that the poor could afford to live in. This similarity is in the ability to find transportation, and the lack of basic necessities in that specific area.
The Grand Ensembles were on the outskirts of Paris and lacked many basic necessities and rights for people to access within walking distance or within walking distance from public transport. Which is similar to many poorer areas in North America. Many areas lack good grocery stores within walking distance, or near a bus route, so many of the people that live in these areas are forced to buy groceries from expensive stores, or simply eat out (at fast food restaurants). This problem occurs because purchasing groceries at reasonable price is simply not an option as there is no way to get to a store. Or in the case that schools may be too far from home to commute to for young students to attend. The problems go on about the issues caused by a lack of access to quality transportation. And this problem becomes the largest issue that is not currently being addressed.
School is free and mandatary for children in Canada. From what I observe, it is not the distance from their home that foster the problem but the location of the school. Think of it that way: you put a school in a least favorable neighbourhood. Who goes there? Which teacher what to work there? Do the parents have the time and awareness to get involve with the school activities? and so on and so forth. I think that social housing are a problem by themselves as they forced all the less fortunate to co-habit and cut them off the rest of society. Inclusion is a piste of solution..
Parents won’t send their children to a school that is close to an area prone to gangster activity and crime, where their children could be influenced to start a life of crime themselves. This is a common problem in many larger cities in Canada and the US; smaller towns and cities are too small and isolated for large gangs and crime lords to establish a presence.