Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: the microflat as a module in affordable inner urbandesign

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

on 7/15/2002 5:19 PM, Anne Jackson at a.jackson [at] rocketmail.com wrote:

> I also lived in New York and survived via the benefits of rent control for
> many years. Even in the beginning the housing commissioner said that NY had
> more abandoned buildings than the population of Buffalo. It only got worse.
> The new owner across the street had hoped to create affordable housing, but
> he gave up and the abandoned building housed only street gangs who preyed
> upon their neighbors, even the friendly ones, like me, who tried to treat
> them like good neighbors. Elderly women could not afford to move out of
> large apartments, and young families made do with tiny ones.

I have a friend who actually lives in a rent controlled apartment she grew
up in and inherited from her parents. She and her three old son inhabit 10
very large rooms in the 80s on the west side of Central Park.

The living room, dining room, and entrance hallway alone could hold several
microflats. The kitchen is at least as large as my two-bedroom unit. Her son
was afraid to walk around it by himself and when he was in his bedroom, his
mother couldn't hear him calling if she was in the kitchen.

But it costs under $1000 a month and she can't afford to live anywhere else.

Sharon
-- 
In Washington DC where all roads lead to Casablanca


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