Val Flores, She/Her/Hers
Tell us about yourself:
I'm a 4th year History student with a minor in English and Cultural Studies. I'm hoping to be a professor one day. In the meantime, I love working in community engagement, research, and logistics. CityLAB SIR has helped me develop my professional skills and continues to encourage me to pursue opportunities outside my area of comfort. The knowledge I've gained in project management, dialogue, design, and city building has been instrumental in decisions I've made about what my future looks like and the kind of work I want to do to change the world.
How is your project going so far?
Our project this semester focuses on the current housing crisis in the Hamilton area. My team studies the trends from Affordable Ownership to Market Ownership with a focus on Market Rental. As we've been researching this area of the housing continuum, we've been specializing in the influence students and student housing has on the general rental market and the "missing middle" where people struggle to move from Market Rental to Market Ownership because of the way the system is currently operating. It's been complicated understanding all the factors that affect Market Rental but having the opportunity to communicate with stakeholders has been clarifying.