tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495287385461070206.post5705059036457029174..comments2010-01-12T01:07:04.640-05:00Comments on Dumi Says...: Let's talk Housing: Part OneDumihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05163810562338655923noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495287385461070206.post-69792238210194469062007-11-14T20:41:00.000-05:002007-11-14T20:41:00.000-05:00The real story is that "In NY and in many cities, ...The real story is that "In NY and in many cities, having a [a job] is like having a hunting license, what you find is up to you and if often not what you thought you could capture." Real estate is a blood sport in this town. Go read NyTimes real estate section or curbed.com if you don't belive me. Why should we make it any easier for poor people?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495287385461070206.post-68608468527521322622007-11-13T11:47:00.000-05:002007-11-13T11:47:00.000-05:00The problems with housing vouchers go way back. T...The problems with housing vouchers go way back. This was also a huge problem during the Robert Moses era urban renewal and highway building programs. When Moses would plow a highway through a neighborhood, he'd promise everyone who was dislocated would receive housing in the newly constructed housing projects if they were unable to find suitable housing, but when people actually tried to make use of the assistance provided, they were mostly shown very poor quality housing as their only option, and very few actually made it into the new construction.<BR/><BR/>This time around it's private money and development doing the displacement for the most part, so it's a little more frustrating than when one could demonize the autocratic Moses. The city isn't doing enough to balance the ill effects but they're not the primary driver of displacement this time.<BR/><BR/>Housing shortages are a difficult problem to solve. There are really two big picture solutions to the problem (short of encouraging poorer people to leave). One is to make the city a less desirable place to be so people with money stop showing up to push out people without money. The other option is to massively add to the housing stock to keep up with demand. Given the already tight density of the city, this isn't easy to do, especially since NIMBYs hate buildings bigger than the ones already in their neighborhood ...Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05326147703172418472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495287385461070206.post-33966295092651894692007-11-11T23:26:00.000-05:002007-11-11T23:26:00.000-05:00"The silences we have surrounding...housing discri..."The silences we have surrounding...housing discrimination are deafening." Yes, yes, a thousand times YES. I worked as an advocate in New York for several years--my first day on the job, I was informed that Section 8 was the best option for people moving out of homeless or domestic violence shelters. The other option? A different homeless shelter. A New York City Housing Authority employee actually suggested that I encourage my clients to move outside the city or upstate, where it is supposedly cheaper to live. <BR/><BR/>Then I go to grad school for social work, and I find that no one has ever heard of Section 8 or public housing or "mixed income" units. <BR/><BR/>P.S. The organization I worked for conducted a study of landlords in NY and concluded that less than 9% accepted "programs" such as Section 8.Annahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05429306996788631508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495287385461070206.post-30070851375674019432007-11-02T11:18:00.000-04:002007-11-02T11:18:00.000-04:00re: '"When they're gentrifying, where do all the p...re: '"When they're gentrifying, where do all the poor people from Harlem go." I paused, thought, and responded, "I don't really know."'<BR/><BR/>From what I've heard and read from people researching this stuff more recently, turnover rates in lower-income areas is almost always very high -- poor people in tend to move once a year or more. When neighborhoods begin to "gentrify" this rate actually slows down -- which suggests people try harder to stick around -- but doesn't stop, so it doesn't take long for demographic displacement to happen, without really affecting the individual displacement rate.<BR/><BR/>Where they go is elsewhere in the neighborhood or to another neighborhood or out of the city entirely, which is where they probably would have gone in any case.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05326147703172418472noreply@blogger.com