Mar
10
Blog Post #6 – Affordable Housing – Tiffany Fan
March 10, 2015 | Leave a Comment
Integrating apartments and small homes to create a higher density in areas where the wealthy reside is only a temporary solution to zoning. When the wealthy see towers being built across the street or next to them and with the wealth that they possess, the wealthy may just move and constantly move to other neighborhoods. Low-income and high-density housing is typically associated with high crime rates and thus, may cause for the individuals that resided there previously to move. Some solutions that were offered in response to zoning is affordable housing and better education.
One of the biggest focuses when moving into certain neighborhoods is the schooling and education. Most students during their first years in school are zoned to a nearby school building and lack the option to go to other schools. These low-income areas are often associated with a lack of resources, which causes segregation between those who have the wealth to situate themselves in better performing schools. In James Pethokoukis’ article “That Financial Times study on US income inequality and housing totally misses the point,” it points out the impact zoning has on education. From this article, it seems evident that one of the first steps to lessen the income gap is by improving education at an earlier age. Due to zoning, there is education inequality, where the wealthy are locating themselves to higher-scoring schools and the poor have few options for their education. Because of this, it causes for students who come from under-privileged families to lack resources and funding to better their education at a young age. As a result, they are unable to move to areas where there are more job opportunities or lack the qualities necessary for the job due to falling behind at a young age.
As mentioned by CNN’s article “Enter through the ‘Poor Door’: Income ‘segregation’ in N.Y.,’ there exists a big controversy about separate entrances based on income. It brings back the notion of ‘separate but equal’ by giving the low-income individuals another door hinting that they are below the others and they aren’t worthy of the same treatment as other individuals due to their income status. However, would the issue be as controversial if rather than having separate doors in one building, it were two separate buildings with one door each? Labelling the door as the ‘poor door’ is the problem; if it wasn’t addressed in this type of way, it wouldn’t be as controversial as it is. Besides the fact of the separate entrance, it may cause for the other individuals who are paying more than double the price of the others to move. On the other hand, it could also cause for the lower-income individuals to gain drive to move up in society. For those who are able to acquire one of these luxury homes is great, but that would only help for a small percentage of low-income individuals. There leaves the majority of them still without a home.
On the contrary, affordable housing is only a temporary solution that allows for lower-income families to be able to access certain benefits in terms of education. As mentioned by Daniel Hertz’ “One of the best ways to fight inequality in cities:zoning,” it allows for developers to build expensive food options nearby. For example, to build Manhattan’s Riverside Drive, it causes for the lower-income families to be able to have a home, but it also cause an increase in the cost of living due to their surroundings. So, will this affordable housing really sustain a better lifestyle for the lower-income individuals in the long run?
Though with more affordable housing, which benefits the poor, and with the wealthy able to purchase their own houses, what happens with the middle class? Due to affordable housing, it causes for the remaining homes to increase in price, which makes it unaffordable for the middle class to purchase.With so much focus and benefits that the lower-income individuals receive, the middle class may eventually become wiped out. I think a wider middle class benefits the society as a whole.
