There was an interesting article in the Strib on Saturday about
cohousing. Ever since I joined a housing cooperative in my first years of college, the
idea of this sort of living for transforming a culture has been apparent to
me; and this article caused me to revisit and articulate it here. I've often
thought that instead of the status quo hodgepodge of federal, state, and local
housing policies resulting in the inadequate system we have now, e.g., Barb
Lickness's Section 8 neighbor who hosts gang bangers and druggies, what we really
need is a mix of housing types metrowide that actually lifts a culture of
poverty into the mainstream, for better or worse.
Transition housing for the homeless when available now is limited to our
concentrated housing projects in Mpls and not much different elsewhere in the
metro outside of Section 8 housing, I believe. It is a remedy that results in
the perpetuation of the "culture of poverty" that many on this list have
talked about. Section 8 housing in certain parts of our cities is not a great deal
better as Lickness's experience attests. It is a big jump from this transition
housing to unsubsidized rentals or home ownership.
Co-housing and cooperatives could provide a stepping off place that makes
the jump above a bit more managable and more likely; and if it never happens,
this sort of living provides a stable and healthy environment for many folks
over the long haul. The opportunities for synergistic collaborations in public
housing on this model are staggeringly large. The potential for breaking the
chain of poverty, both economic and intellectual, is huge for the public
housing agencies willing to explore how to finance them as part of the mix they
provide.
Some ethnic groups move through transition housing quickly, but some stay
for several generations; and one has to consider the possibility that the
latter phenomenon results from the enabling practice of our public housing
agencies, i.e., a sort of codependency has evolved, if you will consider that pos
sibility. I think we should see what happens when we break up this codependency
with a new sort of housing mixing generations of folks from all sorts of
backgrounds to share their experience of life and enrich the cultures of each
resident in this way. I don't think it happens in our present system, but it should.
Bill Kahn
Prospect Park
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