Bill, thanks for that post. I agree heartily.
What I think is the most important thing here is whatever it is that those who require these services say they need. Granted, if any of us were asked what we want we'd ask to win the lottery, but that's not what I mean.
People who need housing would probably like to have a flexible system that allows them to choose what is most needed for their lives. Generally you have to be a parent to qualify, so the needs of the child(ren) -- which can reasonably change as they get older -- will dictate a lot of what they do.
Rental is an important component of this, since it is more flexible. Some will naturally prefer the stability of an owned unit, but not everyone. The people who need this service should be the ones choosing, and choosing dynamically as their needs change.
You have to ask yourself, "What is the goal?" and then "Who are the customers?" before you can really get your arms around what "affordable housing" really means and how best to serve it. I have seen many people bog themselves down in the definition of "affordable" without ever telling me what the populations they are describing really look like and need. Perhaps the definition of "affordable" isn't important at all if your goal is to provide a voucher of $XX for every family making below $YY.
I do worry that zoning has erased many traditional forms of cheap housing, which were located in what we now call "mixed use" developments. Basically, the apartments over the storefront. I'm convinced that the vast stretches of Grand Avenue, for example, where you have 1-2 story commercial buildings and 3-4 story apartments could easily have all been done as an even 3 stories of mixed use, and you'd wind up with quite a bit more actual aprtment space. That form, however, has been largely criminalized -- and while it's loosened up a lot recently, I don't know of any new projects that have taken on anything close to the traditional form.
Criminalizing the traditional source of the cheapest of housing, where the storefront pays the majority of the taxes, etc, on the land, puts pressure all the way up the housing market. People gotta live somewhere. I think if you really want ot focus on land use and what's being built where, I'd start at the very lowest end of the market. Ask yourself, "Where does a Hamline student who waits tables 20 hours a week live?". That's where we have the most pressure, IMHO, and that's where the market starts to get distorted.
Erik Hare [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.comcast.net/~wabbitoid/ Irvine Park, West End, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, North America, Earth
Fine Amish furniture, cedar chests, and crafts http://www.harmonycedar.com
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