> 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.
> Mark V Anderson
> Bancroft Neighborhood
Craig here.
Less then 4 months ago I sold 34 units in Camden. Great area. CM
Johnson's office can testify to the neighborhood and the quality of the
property I ran. The average rent for a two br was $640. The 1br's were
$600.
There are least a thousand of these unit types open in the city of Mpls
right now. Someone mentioned earlier that if we have 8-10,000 units in the
metro open right now. Why so many people with out stable housing? That is
a great question with a long answer. Now's not the time.
Residents paid electricity & telephone. I paid the big bills garbage,gas,
heat, water. Residents paid elec and phone. The minimum housing cost was
about $700. Almost any single person with a $10 hour job could squeeze by
in a 1br. But that is all they would do, is squeeze by. Get a roommate,
bump up to a 2br, and the savings are readily apparent. Savings of almost
$300 per month. Take that times 36 months and you have $10,800. Come to
think about it, that's how I got the scratch together to buy my first house.
The $10,800 gets you a down payment in many areas of Mpls. Oh BTW. To
anyone who asks. Your not supposed to raise a family and save for a house
on $5.15 an hour. If you are, teach your younger brothers and sisters how
tough that is and encourage them not to try.
WAGE LEVELS
I've been a free market capitalists for quite awhile. I went to many church
basement meetings where MICAH, ISAIAH and you name it have been pushing for
more "Non Profit" Housing. They would always enlist the local
business/employer. The local employer would prattle on about how they can't
hire any more employees because housing is too expensive nearby. These
business' thought nothing of having some one poach the taxpayers pocket to
pay for the housing of their employees. So as of this point I'm joining the
barricades on this issue.
If housing is out of reach for the entry level worker, and the government
refuses to ease the cost of housing through regulation and legal reform,
then we need to make the employer pay their employees more.
If they want good employees who are adequately housed, they should pay
higher wages. Why unload the underpaid on the taxpayers of Mpls? Oh BTW,
don't let these employers build company owned housing. A good deal of blood
was spilled in the 8th congressional district in the 20th and 19th century
to end the 'Company Town' and the 'Company Store'. A very large percentage
of labor strife and embittered misery can find it's flash point in the
'Company Town'.
Craig Miller
Former Affordable Housing Provider
Living in Rogers
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