The costs of either renting or home ownership have skyrocketted lately, due to a lot of factors. Housing costs have outstripped incomes, and many families are hard put to keep a roof over their heads. Read on for some innovative approaches by government and businesses:
From the Omaha World Herald; Streck sweetens the pot for new workers by building apartments for them | Local Business News | omaha.com
"Connie Ryan runs a La Vista-based biotech company that just expanded and is eager for more growth — yet she recently saw trouble looming. Streck Inc. is based in a worker-starved state with a persistently low unemployment rate that recently dipped to a new record — the lowest in the country. Moreover, Streck operates in Sarpy County, which has some of the priciest new housing and rents around....In an unusual move, perhaps unique in the Omaha area’s recent history, Ryan and her team have decided to build Streck’s own apartment complex to rent to employees at a discount. Ryan, the company’s chief executive, said the complex is aimed mostly at employees starting at $16 to $21 an hour who would like to work at Streck and live nearby but can’t afford the area’s housing....Streck will own the property, estimated at $15 million, so it will have flexibility in how it will structure the subsidy."
"...government housing entities such as the Financing Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development don’t have the capacity to provide the amount of affordable housing that’s in demand locally. By government standards, people are housing “burdened” if they pay more than 30% of their income for their rent or mortgage and other housing-related expenses....Achola and others say that addressing worker shortages by providing more affordable housing increasingly depends on partnerships and projects driven by the private sector."
Meanwhile, in Utah, religious leaders and others are repurposing distressed hotels to serve the needs of unhoused people: Religious leaders and others looking for solutions to Utah homelessness are pushing the idea of government purchase of underused hotels and motels to convert to permanent supportive housing. (sltrib.com)
"An “unprecedented” influx of state and federal cash for homelessness and housing is expected to flow into Utah this year — something members of the state’s religious community see as an opportunity to radically reduce the number of unhoused people in the state. Their “big idea” for how governments should spend the money? Buy underused motels and hotels and convert them into permanent supportive housing for people who don’t have shelter. “We’re in a time where the hotel industry is distressed,” noted Bill Tibbitts, associate director of the Crossroads Urban Center, in outlining the concept during a panel discussion on Thursday. “There are people who might welcome the opportunity to get out of the business. So it makes [sense] and it’s being done in other places.”
"The concept is already playing out in Oregon, he noted, which last year announced it was purchasing 20 motels with the goal of moving 2,000 people out of homelessness. It also wouldn’t be new to Utah, which is home in its capital city to Palmer Court, a retrofitted hotel for previously unsheltered individuals that opened in 2009. That development had an “immediate” and “positive impact” on people experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake City, noted David Litvack, a senior policy adviser in the Salt Lake City mayor’s office..."
Another item from the Omaha World Herald: Omaha City Council approves tax incentive for Habitat for Humanity project | Politics & Government | omaha.com
"A project that aims to build more than 80 houses for people with low to moderate incomes on the site of a demolished apartment complex advanced this week with the city’s approval of a tax incentive. The Omaha City Council on Tuesday approved a $3.44 million tax-increment financing request for the project, which is being undertaken by Habitat for Humanity of Omaha. Habitat’s proposal calls for about 85 single-family houses to be built on more than 15 acres of land near Sorensen Parkway and 51st Street. The land has been vacant since the city tore down the condemned Wintergreen Apartments in 2006."
"Twenty of the 85 homes will be geared toward “empty nesters.” “We have folks who want a home where they can age in place,” McPherson said. “It’s going to be a smaller unit, half won’t have stairs. We’ve gotten so many phone calls about those, which shows that there’s a real need.”
"The multi-generational development looks to include a city park and new bike and walking paths that connect the homes to the surrounding neighborhood, including Wakonda Elementary School, according to Habitat. The houses will be sold at the appraised value to people with low to moderate incomes. Habitat will establish income guidelines for the homes and homeownership counseling to get families mortgage-ready, McPherson said."
On a personal note, ever since we moved into our house in 1995, south of us has been an open field. I have enjoyed the view and the open space. but that is coming to an end. Now the field is being developed by Habitat for Humanity to build about 16 homes. I will miss it, but will have to get my fix of wide open green spaces elsewhere. There is certainly a need for some lower cost houses in this town.
Katherine that is interesting. Since the start of the pandemic many of our local homeless have been put up in local hotels which otherwise would have been largely vacant. The initial funding was provided by the Viatorians, a men's religious order with a high school and provincial house in this local area. Since then a combination of public and private funding (including from our parish) has sustained it. It has been especially important because the usual network of church-based shelters has mostly still not restarted.
ReplyDeleteJim, are the hotels still considered a temporary solution, or have there been any moves to convert them to apartments for permanent housing?
DeleteLocally there had been a homeless shelter in an old house run by a nondenominational church group. Then a nursing home closed (a story in itself since it had been bought by a for-profit corporation and apparently it was underperforming financially). Anyway now there was some vacant handicapped-accessible real estate. So it was acquired (I'm not sure by whom) and the homeless shelter will move into those quarters.
DeleteGoogle has subsidized temporary housing for some employees for several years. They plan to build thousands of units if their master plan is approved. Silicon Valley home prices are in the stratosphere. Our son just bought a new home in San Jose ( not one of SVs posh neighborhoods) that would cost half of what they had to pay if it were in the affluent suburbs of DC - close to downtown DC. Probably a similar house in Omaha would be only a quarter of the price. There are a lot of non- professional staff jobs at Google- they have great benefits and nominally good salaries but can’t afford homes in SV ven to rent. So Google is going to build thousands of units right in Mountain View where their HQ is located, eliminating the long commute. All the big SV tech companies run their own shuttles throughout the region, from San Francisco, through the SV area and up to the East Bay where Oakland is. Now that my son is back in the office part-time, he takes the shuttle. It’s equipped with work stations( sturdy tray tables) and secure wifi so that employees can work during the commute. Before he got married, he lived in the city, didn’t own a car, and used the shuttle. With two careers, and kids in daycare, living in the suburbs, the now have two cars. You don’t easily go to the grocery store with a couple of kids in tow, coming home with 6-8 bags, walking or biking! Or even using a bus.
Deletehttps://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/10/google-touts-housing-local-businesses-in-new-campus-proposal-.html
I have read that some cities are repurposing dead shopping malls for affordable housing. LA is creating tiny house communities, but those are a drop in the bucket compared to the need. A homeless encampment grew last year at the end of his street on an empty parcel of land adjoining a freeway in my son’s single family home neighborhood. Thousands of people lost homes in LA last year. The city moved the encampment out - to where? The homeowners were empathetic at first, and tolerated it, but then they started finding needles and other drug paraphernalia, as well as growing amounts of trash, near the sidewalks so finally called the county. One old woman camped alone in an alley that the garages behind the houses backed to. I suppose she wanted to get away from the drugs. She was very friendly and kept her area neat. One of the women in the neighborhood was able to find housing for her eventually to get her off the street.
One of the Scandinavian countries has found a way to repurpose hotels as homeless housing for ALL their homeless so that nobody lives on the street. They also provide education and counseling to try to eventually return them to normal living environments.
Last year I read a book called “Maid” by Stephanie Land. She grew up in a normal middle class life, but experienced poverty after leaving her abusive boyfriend and being a single mom, finally working her way out of poverty, going to college and becoming a professional writer. She survived because of multiple public assistance programs in Washington state, which is more generous with these programs than many states. She supported herself by cleaning houses. Netflix created a series based on the book. Not identical scenarios but close enough. It gives a graphic picture of the challenges of navigating the welfare system in order to survive and try to get out of it. It’s a good series - I found it to be as compelling as the book. I recommend it to those who have Netflix. The bipolar mother of the main character is played by Andy McDowell - an over the top character. I was surprised to learn that the actress who played the main character is Andy McDowell’s real daughter.
Delete"Jim, are the hotels still considered a temporary solution, or have there been any moves to convert them to apartments for permanent housing?"
DeleteThey're still considered temporary. The funding is uncertain from month to month, but so far, it has come through every month. With the cold weather now upon us, we really hope funding will be available for the next 6-7 months.
Pre-pandemic, a network of churches voluntarily provided nightly shelters to 50-100 homeless persons in this suburban region on any given night (typically there would be 2-3 churches on a particular night of the week, with different churches from one night to the next). Around here, churches shut down completely in 2020 when the pandemic started accelerating - not only for homeless shelters, but for worship, religious ed and all other activities. Now the churches have been open again for a year+, but we're all struggling to get back to the former level of volunteering - not only for shelters, but for all other parish activities, too. Our weekly "mass counts" (no. of people attending mass on a weekend) is less than half of what it was pre-pandemic. Church leaders have to be thinking that we're never going to "snap back" to pre-pandemic reality; this is the new normal.
To get back to your question of permanent housing: our local village (suburban town) had a well-attended city council meeting earlier this week, because an item on the docket was to approve a local shelter for at-risk male teens to move into a residential neighborhood. The shelter organization had purchased a duplex unit, but the local neighbors didn't want at-risk teens living in their neighborhood. NIMBY continues to reign around here. Happy to report that the shelter was approved despite the neighbors' objections, but the council insisted that the no. of residents be scaled back from 12 to 6. The original plan called for two boys to a room; now it will be one boy to a room. Given the reality of COVID, that might be prudent.
Jim, it sounds like this shelter may be a supervised setting? There have been several of this type of thing in our neighborhood for years, south of the field where the Habitat for Humanity development is going in. We've never had any problems. There have been the isolated minor acts of vandalism on the street, but it has been from youth who weren't in the project.
DeleteI'm glad to hear that the shelter in your area will be one boy to a room. I think it is likely to cause problems when strangers are crowded together.
The traditional type of homeless shelter is good in that people are protected from the elements, but it's a band aid rather than a solution.
Katherine, you're right that traditional homeless shelters are band aids. But solutions to homelessness aren't too simple, if the goal is to address the issues that led to homelessness. I've heard mixed things about programs in which a homeless person is given a subsidized place to live. That's basically what is happening with the local hotel program I mentioned.
DeleteMy mother grew up in company houses. The Allen Wood Steel Company in Conshohocken, PA where my grandfather worked rented out the homes. My grandparents sometimes rented from individuals. I don't know what motivated the move from one to the other. I guess they are bringing back an old idea.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of former company houses in SW PA that were developed around the steel mills and the mines. My parents house was basically a two story house that contained two apartments side by side. It was built next to the main farm house, I guess for the hired hands, On the other side was a barn which eventually was converted to a house. Then behind the main house was a garage which eventually was converted into another house. Lots of routes to more housing. When we moved into our house, my parents rented the other apartment out to our cousins. When they moved out of state my parents remodeled the house to bring the two bedrooms down to the first floor. One upstairs bedroom became my dad's electronic workshop; he repaired vacuum tube radios. The other room became the model railroad layout. After I went off to college the whole upstairs was remodeled to become my apartment with a bedroom and an office. How buildings do get repurposed.
ReplyDeleteThere were also company stores. I remember the old song "sixteen tons" about coal mining. "another day older and deeper in debt. I owe my soul to the company store."
Jack - I also was thinking about the sixteen tons song in reading about Google and other Silicon Valley companies providing company housing. From what I'm reading here, the tech giants aren't engaging in "company town" exploitation, and certainly the working conditions are safer!
Delete... although I wonder, if I'm living in Google housing, and I take a job with Apple, do I lose my Google apartment?
DeleteMaybe not, however your apartment might acquire a few "bugs" so Apple can check on what you are doing at Google.
DeleteLol! You are probably right, Jim. The big SV companies compete fiercely for talent- not just with salaries, but with an amazing, long list of benefits. Are your neck and shoulders stiff from sitting in front of the computer for hours? Just call a massage therapist who will treat you at your desk. Can’t bear to leave Fido alone at home - no need, there is free doggy day care on site. Missed the last shuttle to go home? Call the car loan center and book your Prius - free - to drive home and return the next day. Hungry? Check out the day’s menus from the 17 on- campus restaurants. Very cuisine, most all organic. And free. There are more benefits , but you get the idea.
DeleteOn Thursday I got my Pfizer booster. My arm began to hurt Thursday evening but it is almost gone today. No other symptoms, very much like the two previous shots.
ReplyDeleteHad my choice of vaccines. I decided to stick with Pfizer because of the minimum side effects even if the Moderna might be better. I am busy cleaning up the yard. We have fine weather for a few days so I did not want to risk having it interrupted by a strong reaction from the Moderna.
Interesting new thing on the form I filled out: Before the male and female boxes, it said "Sex at birth:" Will we have a lot of controversy about this rephrasing of the standard question?
I attended my cousin's son's wedding in Atlanta. One topic of discussion was vaccine side effects. A goddaughter of mine in her early thirties got the Moderna but had painful swelling in her knees and ankles which went away. What may be pertinent is that her father developed severe rheumatoid arthritis. She might have a latent predisposition that was outed by her vaccine-activated immune system. This might be something to consider for young people taking the vaccine, parental medical history. One lady I know has a number of autoimmune problems. Her physician recommended the J&J. I don't think she had a problem.
DeleteEveryone I know’ family and friends, a couple of dozen people, got either Moderna or Pfizer. More Moderna than Pfizer. No reactions beyond mild arm soreness the first day. Haven’t heard of anyone who had a serious reaction. Maybe some people, like your god daughter and her family, do have some kind of predisposition to react.
DeleteAnne, I think you are right that there may be some people who have a predisposition to problems. That's why I don't really support hard and fast vaccine requirements. Though with three kinds available it seems likely that one of them would be a safe option.
DeleteI had the Moderna booster a couple of weeks ago. No serious problems, just arm soreness with some tenderness under. As with the second shot, with the booster I had some pink itchiness near the site. My husband had his booster the same day I did, earlier in the day. He said they gave him a whole dose of Moderna. I got the half dose. He had symptoms similar to mine, no worse.
Unrelated, I don't know if you paid any attention to the "Let's go, Brandon" thing.
ReplyDeleteMakes me think of when we were little kids and Mom wouldn't let us say bad words. So we thought of substitute words to call one another when we were mad. We thought we were terribly clever. But Mom called us on it anyway, saying that it was the thought that counted, we were being unkind.
"Let's go, Brandon" is a similar preschool level of maturity.
What it stands for is a coarsening of our public discourse. I know I am a fuddy duddy about these things, but coarse language is unnecessary and unfortunate. What's wrong with having standards slightly above (or at least at) the minimum?
DeleteJim, I agree about the coarsening of public discourse. Not only that, but stuff that amounts to schoolyard taunts adds nothing to a serious discussion of policy and issues. And in fact subtracts from it.
DeleteIt must be said that the "F*** (insert president you hate here)" phrase was introduced in public discourse during Trump's reign, for instance, by Robert De Niro. It was applauded by many liberals. I have used the phrase as far back as Reagan, mostly to break through the overinflated praise by conservatives. I didn't use it frequently. It was a way of saying "Wait a minute, folks." Luckily, I don't worship presidents anymore. Biden is not a hero of mine, just the only alternative to Trump. I don't see blaming him for limitations based in the legislature either. Until the legislature is fixed, progress will be limited. But even if Biden were given everything he wants, he wants less than I do. I find it funny that Trumpers can think they can get under my skin by insulting Biden as if I am a mirror reflection of them. If anything annoys me, it's how cozy and warm they are in their ignorance.
DeleteUnfortunately trump made both vulgar language and hate speech acceptable. He said publicly what many had thought privately, particularly when it came to demonizing certain minority groups. He actively encourages his followers to be as openly vulgar and hate- filled as he is.
DeleteLike you, Stanley, Biden is not my hero nor does the Democratic Party align with all my views. Unfortunately they continue to shoot themselves in the foot and trumpism may prevail - destroying our country in the process. I support the types of family supporting social safety nets that pretty much ALL European countries provide for their citizens, but I am probably more centrist than you on international economic policies. No political party or politician ever does line up perfectly with any individual’s views, and providing for the least of these, and working towards a more just society are more important to me than tariff policy.
But in these last two elections, far more than normal policy differences and nasty political campaigning was at stake, the entire future of our country was at stake. The GOP succumbed to embracing authoritarian government, using any means possible, including voter suppression, and dog- whistle encouragement of the belief held by about half of Republicans that violence to achieve the goal of overthrowing the current administration is justified. They openly promote an Orban style government - an authoritarian state hiding under a shallow veneer of democracy. The ignorance évident in the electorate is not only appalling, it is dangerous. It has worsened and lengthened the Covid crisis, and resulted in millions of people believing the Big Lie of the stolen election. Making it worse are the white religious conservatives - both the evangelical Protestants and white Catholics, including a whole lot of RC bishops, priests and deacons, all of whom have influence on the members of their congregations.
No matter what one's views are on reproductive rights, civil rights, climate change, economics, foreign affairs, military preparedness, there is no room for anyone who wants to destabilize, diminish or nullify democracy in our country. The real problem with the Soviet Union wasn't its economic system. It was the totalitarianism. I consider climate change to be the primary problem that needs addressing. If an authoritarian party promised to fix the problem in exchange for dispensing with democratic norms, I would say "Thank you, NO".
DeleteAsking for prayers- I am having surgery on Wednesday. I was diagnosed with breast cancer about a month ago. The surgery is the first step of the treatments. I will be relieved when it is over. I had a cardiac arrest during an appendectomy when I was still a child so I have a fear of anesthesia. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAnne, prayers on the way right now, both for the surgery (and anesthesia) and also for the diagnosis. I know breast cancer can be terrifying. Wish I could do more for you.
DeleteI am so sorry to hear that, Anne. Of course I will pray.
DeletePlease let us know how things go.
DeleteVery sorry to hear about this. I pray all the benefits of family, friends, medicine bring you through this time to full wellness. God be with you.
DeleteBetty and I will be praying for you.
Delete