Day: June 7, 2006

Walking home one day I ran into one of the neighborhood teenagers, also walking home, and began some light chit-chat. In the course of conversation I discovered he’s a Junior and will be a Senior when the school year starts up again. “So, what are you going to do after school?” I asked. The answer was to get as far away from home. My cousins had the same idea, but that’s another topic. “Maybe college” he said and rattled off a couple of places he thought would be interesting, NYU, something in Boston, Florida. I pounced at Florida, being a University of Florida grad myself (GO GATORS!). I started selling the idea of UF and how it is a good (and way more affordable) school, the weather, what dorms he should look into, etc.
After we parted ways, I thought I should annoy more teens, particularly Juniors about college. Well my college, ’cause that’s what I know. And if not college, because it may not be for everyone, a trade. But then, I don’t actually know that many older teens. The kids I know are around 14 or younger. Too young to bug about college.
If I see him again today, or tomorrow, I think I’ll bug him again about Florida.

Well considering there are developers still developing and candidates running for stuff, affordable housing may pop up in the discussion.
Yes, every one is for affordable housing, to a degree.
The project over in NE Eckington, the Fairfield Development Project is supposed to have 8% of its units affordable for those making 80% of the AMI. If I’m reading the HUD data right (pdf file) for one person it is $41,700 and $47,700 for two. So of the 625+ housing units, about 50 or more will be affordable. Eight percent does not sound like a lot, but it is better than 0%.
On the other end 100% affordable housing projects are bound to attract neighborhood opposition. Also it is concentrating poverty which is not good for the neighborhood and not good for the residents of the projects.
So the question is, when developers or politicians talk about affordable housing what kind of affordable housing are they talking about? And with the politicians, how they propose to carry out creating, making, affordable housing is a concern. Will it be via some financing scheme/ tax break where a percentage of units are to go to folks making up to a certain income? Then what is is good percentage that makes the project commercially viable, does not concentrate poverty, and provides a decent number of affordable units? Will it be housing vouchers, where we’ve seen, folks could concentrate themselves in poorer areas. I don’t have any answers but I do know that the Devil is always in the details.