Cathy Leighton wrote:
> > Another option whould be to allow boarding and/or rooming houses again.
> > This is a very efficient means of sharing space.  It offers a home
owner,
> > with extra space, the opportunity to get some extra income and provides
> the
> > renter (especially single people) with a truly affordable option.  I
lived
> > in a boarding house some years ago and absolutely loved it.

Craig Miller replied:
> This becomes risky business in our modern crime apologetic city.  Can't
tell
> you how many senior,severely limited income ladies I've advised over the
> years.  Some were physically injured by their tenants.  Just terrible to
see
> that happen.  They still had to go through the torturous legal process to
> get the bad guy out.  Boarding houses should have instant eviction power.
> No bones about it.  They call a cop and out goes the tenant.  Ageing
widows
> should not be excluded from rental income by violence.

Mark Anderson here:
Hey great ideas, both of you.  I presume the reason Boarding Houses don't
exist anymore is because of the rules against having too many unrelated
people in one house?  But as another person wrote, I too remember when I was
in college at the U of M, when I lived in houses with innumerable unrelated
people.  Were we breaking the law, or maybe zoning is different around the
U, or maybe the rules have changed since the '70's?  We may be getting to
part of the true reasons for affordable housing problems these days.

On a related note, I've been waiting for someone to respond to Vicky's
fascinating post on how much poor people can afford for housing.  No one has
responded yet, so I'll ask the key question.  Are apartments for $600/month
available?  If so, she makes a very good point.  No full-time worker, if
single, should then be homeless, except in extraordinary circumstances.

Vicky, can you sharpen your pencil for an analysis of people with children
also?  Make sure you include the EITC, Working Family Credit, food stamps,
etc. (and day care costs should also be included... wow this gets really
complicated, but it's worth doing even if we leave off some categories of
people at first).

Mark V Anderson
Bancroft Neighborhood



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