3 Comments

1. 
   MPFadR5c6L | May 04, 2011 12:17am | #1

   I'd rather see affordable gardens than affordable housing.
   While I agree with your comments: "Community gardens and urban farms can also create opportunities for environmental and health education, spur economic development and reclaim vacant and abandoned property", as an American who believes in peoples' freedoms and rights, cannot and will not support the concept of affordable housing.

   (A brief tangent, then back on course to the affordable gardens)
   Firstly, I'm not sure where we (America) went off track. Every American and immigrant once had equal opportunity in this country. They were able to eat, spend time with their families, gather in groups, etc., and had the opportunity to open their own businesses . The sky was the limit. The harder people worked, the more they earned.

   Taxes and gov't regulations weren't the burdens they are today. It didn't take tens of thousands of dollars and months of forms and paperwork just to open a business or build a house. Between unemployment insurance, payroll tax, self employment tax, corporate tax, parking garage tax (local), luxury tax(local), road tax, sales tax, income tax, and then the building regulations, permits,gov't dept. fees,licenses,etc, I spend almost 80% of my income on some form of gov't payment. Then of course the rediculous prices of everything for no good reason.

   Part of the reason that it costs so much money just to be alive today (let alone build a future and retirement by yourself) is because of wasteful spending such as union labor "laws", "affordable" housing, and unemployment compensation. Instead of the government discriminating against those who work hard to run a business by taxing us to death (in order to give my hard earned money to those who don't want to work),
   (getting back to the point...)
   I would rather see it used to provide work for people, such as public works jobs. Let a bus pick up those on welfare and they can go to work, cleaning streets, picking up dog mess, filling potholes, OR converting old parking lots aand properties(which our municipalities can steal through eminent domain (Ha Ha!) into community gardens. I do think that not only would we be putting people to work (and by not paying their rent and utility bills, they might just be motivated enough to get on that bus in the morning), but we would also be doing a great service to the community by having such an "urban" garden.

2. GBA Editor
   Martin Holladay | May 04, 2011 05:02am | #2

   Response to Deniz
   Deniz,
   "Every American and immigrant once had equal opportunity in this country"?

   Except for the immigrants who were brought in chains from Africa. Except for the Native Americans who were victims of genocidal war. Except for the indentured servants brought from England. Except for the gays and lesbians who were fired from their jobs for their sexual orientation. I'm sure I'm forgetting many other instances, but you get the idea ...

3. 
   o9VGxCFwnc | May 19, 2011 09:26am | #3

   Response to Deniz
   Deniz, I am trying to understand your objection to the concept of affordable housing. The concept is that a family or individual should not spend more than a third of their income on housing costs. I am puzzled as to why this is objectionable. It seems like your true objection is to taxes and subsidies for housing. While no one likes paying taxes, the effective tax rate hit its all-time low in 2003 and has since crept up only slightly (if you are paying 80% of you income in taxes I suggest you look for a better accountant). Housing subsidies are part of our economic system; over half of Americans receive a housing subsidy through mortgage interest tax deductions alone. Your suggestion that people who live in affordable housing (by which I assume you mean directly subsidized housing for low-income families and individuals) do not work, or want to work, is misplaced at best.

   There is no county in the United States where a full-time minimum wage earner can afford market-rate housing. Even if their housing burden was only a third of their income, it would leave under $200 a week for all other expenses. I support affordable housing because I believe that all Americans deserve a decent place to live, but I agree with you that we must avoid wasteful spending. That is why it is so important that we use our financial resources wisely when we do invest in housing, and make sure it is built correctly and built green. Building green delivers significant cost savings and improvements in energy and resource use; create jobs and improve local economies. These savings are passed on to low-income residents and are put back into the local economy instead of down the drain, out the tail-pipe, or up the smoke stack. I would encourage you to learn more about how green affordable housing is changing lives and improving communities at http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org.