> > CM City/urban living is always much more expensive. "Affordable housing" > needs to be defined. We have too many people who define a crisis by saying > I can't afford to live where I want to. Therefore someone pick up the tab. > > The vacancy rate went from 2.2 to 4.0 to 4.8 in under six months. And it > will go higher. > There are for rent signs everywhere in the city. The amount of column > inches devoted to "for rent" adds are exploding. The shortage is over. The > facts bear it out. > > You have got to be kidding me. The question isn't affordable luxury apartments...it is affordble decent housing that isn't in an area with regular gunshots. In many cases affordable is just because the landlords don't bother to make repairs until the housing inspector forces them to. My rent went up 13% the first of the year, despite the fact that to be able to safely walk out of my apartment buildings front or rear entrance, my fiancee had to shovel and salt (no we are NOT the caretakers) I have a one foot hole in the plaster of my ceiling in the kitchen and most of the glass in the windows was cracked when I moved in 6 years ago and has never been repaired. The last two times my hallway was vacuumed was hwen we did it despite the onsite caretaker who receives a rent reduction to do so. This winter for one whole week we had to walk up the stairs in darkness because the caretaker could not be bothered to replace the light bulbs in the hall way. Why don't I move you may wonder? Because on the whole, this building is safer and nicer than the other affordable housing I have lived in and the landlord is not totally indifferent. He screens the tenants here for the most part and we don't have drug dealers etc.
City living is more expensive? Well where do you want us to live...we are the cab drivers, the nurses aides, the coffee servers, the fast food workes the file clerks that the rest of you count on to work for minimum or slightly more than minimum wages. If we move to where? the country? where do you think we would park to be your clerk? The suburbs? Yeah I have to say that I haven't noticed any cheaper housing options there either. Your response seems a bit ivory tower there don't you think? Kate Carey Phillips (soon to be Ventura Village) _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
