If I am going to set up an affordable housing, there are several things I will do. First, I have to plan how many units in the housing can I build and what kind of units will I build. I will take into consideration of the applicants who are interested in applying for affordable housing and see the percentage of those interested in 1 bedroom or 2 bedrooms, or more. I will sort out the units based on this distribution so the housing can accommodate the needs of the applicants as much as possible. For example, if there are large portions of people who want 2 bedrooms units, I will build more 2 bedrooms units in the housing.
Second, I will set up a website with the rent prices so there will be transparency. I will also set up a rent control which will also be stated in the website so that interested tenants won’t be worried if the rent will increase. I will also set up a contract on the website with all the rules that are expected of the landlord/organization of the affordable housing. The obligations will consist of the landlord/organization reaching back to the tenants within 24-48 hours if the tenants have any issues with their units. The landlord/organization will also be responsible for getting whatever is needed to be fixed fixed by contacting a mechanics or an expert within 24-48 hours after reaching back to the tenant with the problem. I will also put up the numbers for these professionals onto the website just so if the tenants want to contact them themselves directly. But the landlord/organization should still be involved in the process and check up every so often until the issue is resolved.
In Tom Angotti’s “From Dislocation to Resistance: The Roots of Community Planning”, it is stated that displacement is a major issue in housing especially for Black Americans. It is mentioned that public housing in the name of urban renewal ended up displacing a lot of people living in the neighborhood. This leads to my third point. If I am building an affordable housing in a neighborhood, I want to build it on an empty space that no one was occupying. I don’t want to take away a living space of some people to build a new living space for other people. I want to make sure I am not taking away something from a neighborhood but instead add something beneficial to the neighborhood.
I will also have to take into consideration of zoning and planning. Zoning is restricting the number and types of buildings and their uses usually done by the government. Planning is the control of urban development by the government and a license has to be obtained to build a new property or change an existing one. The difference between zoning and planning is that zoning is restriction while planning is expansion. Both will be important if I am trying to build an affordable housing. I have to get permission from the government to build the housing (planning) and depending on the zoning rules, I have to take into consideration of what buildings I can actually build. Of course, I will also have to take in the consideration of the neighborhood in which I am trying to build the affordable housing. I want the affordable housing to be part of the neighborhood and future tenants living in that area to feel that they do fit in.
Very interesting, Jenny. You want housing to be both affordable and contextual, and you would make all rules transparent. I wonder who is going to pay the total costs of construction and maintenance?
This is an interesting contrast: “The difference between zoning and planning is that zoning is restriction while planning is expansion.” Is this your original statement, or are you referring to a published source? Which?
And who should make the plans?
These are all issues that should be considered by the housing/where we live team.
Professor Zukin