Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: 30% of Income Cohousing [was Unit price and budget questions

[Fred-List manager (fholson]

David Mandel <dlmandel [at] gmail.com>
is the author of the message below.  It was posted by
Fred, the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
after deleting quoted digest and restoring subject line.

Digest subscribers, please delete most of quoted digest and
restore subject line when replying.   NOTE: Digest subscribers can
make replying easier by using "auto folders" particularly Gmail and
Outlook users.   See http://justcomm.org/jc-faq.htm#Q6.5

--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------
Thanks to Phillip Dowds for such a cogent explanation of why
"affordability" is elusive, politicized and why this is mostly a function
of our dysfunctionally unequal society.
I hope you agree that the answer is to decommodify housing, since it is a
basic human need/right. The most important elements of this are massive
construction of social(publicly funded) housing of various types and
styles, with the emphasis on creating healthy, sustainable communities
(drawing on cohousing experience, among other things), and making it
attractive to households with incomes from near zero to above median. If
done right it really won't matter that some may own (though hopefully
mostly through co-ops or in a bifurcated manner with community land trusts)
and others rent. Tax incentives that favor single family home ownership
will need to go. Some of the uber rich will still be able to play in their
mansions, but we'll tax their wealth so heavily that even they will have to
consider cutting corners a bit.
David Mandel, Southside Park Cohousing, Sacramento