Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: affordable housing

[Fred-List manager (fholson]

Harmony Klohr <harmony [at] klohr.com>
is the author of the message below.  It was posted by
Fred, the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
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--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------
 Regarding Message 6 by Katie Henry:

Katie, thanks for the thought provoking comments. In regards to
exclusionary zoning and building codes practices you mentioned, a concrete
action we can take in our own communities is to contact our city, township,
county, state, etc commissioners and request that they develop infill plans
(aka upzoning plans). For example, Portland, OR worked over the past four
years to develop such a plan, which is now in effect. Perhaps this can act
as a model for your local area? Here are links with general info, and info
about how Portland has responded to concerns and feedback:

Residential Infill Project, City of Portland
https://beta.portland.gov/rip

Portland seeks to address worries about infill housing plan with
anti-displacement push, September 4 2019
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/09/portland-seeks-to-address-worries-about-infill-housing-plan-with-anti-displacement-push.html

Advocates Press Portland Leaders To Expand Affordable Housing Options In
Infill Project, January 14 2020
https://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-oregon-affordable-housing-residential-infill/

Other cities that have passed similar changes include Minneapolis, Seattle
and Austin.

Last summer the state of Oregon also passed a bill eliminating single
family only zoning in cities with populations above 25,000:

Bill to eliminate single-family zoning in Oregon neighborhoods passes final
legislative hurdle, June 30 2019
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2019/06/bill-to-eliminate-single-family-zoning-in-oregon-neighborhoods-passes-final-legislative-hurdle.html

Oregon was the first state to pass a law of this nature, and since then
California, Minnesota and North Carolina have also taken steps to approve
increased density. Virginia is also currently considering HB 152.

Consider sending a letter or email to your local commissioners requesting
that they develop plans like the cities and states above.


Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Re: affordable housing (Fred-List manager)
>    2. Re: Affordable cohousing (Fred-List manager)
>    3. Re: affordable housing (Ron Ingram)
>    4. Re: Affordable cohousing (Ron Ingram)
>    5. Re: Cohousing-L Digest, Vol 192, Issue 6 (Ty Albright)
>    6. Re: affordable housing (Katie Henry)
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------
>


Message: 6
>
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2020 22:43:46 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Katie Henry <katie-henry [at] att.net>
> To: Cohousing-L Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ affordable housing
> Message-ID: <727702552.4636542.1578264226007 [at] mail.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Ron Ingram wrote:?
>
> Not debating that cash is not king just like cotton was king. But who put
> cash on a pedestal ? Who crowned cash? Did cash do it itself? People did.
> Those same people could also dethrone it lol but if they benefit from it at
> the expense of others then who would expect members of the majority to
> change their favorable position?
>
> -----------------
>
> Not just people, but middle-class white people who used zoning and
> building codes to exclude poor people and minorities from their
> neighborhoods and segregate them in undesirable areas with substandard
> housing, no jobs, no transit, and no access to capital.?
>
> I feel terrible about the financial world we have created. I've benefited
> from it after profiting on every property I've bought and sold since my
> first house in the 1980's. I worry about my college-age nephews who live in
> the NYC area. There is no way they could buy anything in the town they grew
> up in. I feel fortunate that I'll be able to help them out if they ever
> want to buy. This is the kind of generational wealth that we have denied
> poor people and minorities.
>
> I know we like to bash the 1% for hoarding all the wealth, but we
> middle-class white folks are just as responsible for our current economic
> inequality by driving up the price of housing for our own benefit/profit.
> I'm excited about the YIMBY movement, which is finally starting to get some
> traction.?
>
> Ron, I'm glad you posted. I don't see that there's much the cohousing
> community can do to address the situation. But all of us can be active in
> our own communities to encourage upzoning of single-family neighborhoods to
> allow ADUs, multi-family housing, and clustered housing.?
>
> One point to address in your original post: Professionals don't make a lot
> of money from cohousing projects. It's more of a labor of love. They can't
> do it for free because they have an office to run and staff to pay, but
> they could make a lot more money building standard tract houses in a
> cornfield on the edge of town. The several that I know personally are
> deeply concerned that the price of new construction makes cohousing
> unaffordable for so many.
>
> Katie Henry
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> End of Cohousing-L Digest, Vol 192, Issue 7
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