Community Housing, letter to the editor 2013

I'm posting some old letters to the editor. This is so I can remember what I wrote, and to keep myself honest.  I'm posting them in the order I wrote them so this goes back a couple of years.

The more things change….

This is from the Winter of 2013

An opinion in response to "rental housing market deserves more attention" : Break the mold

Let's not forget that the Employee Housing program was originally supposed to house seasonal employees. The real estate market t.ook off and the City tried to grab a piece of it losing sight of the original goal. (This also had the opposite of the intended effect by making free market housing *more* $ exclusive.)

I'm in favor of Community housing, not Employee housing. By transforming the definition of seasonal employee (renter)  to full time employee (home owner) without creating a year round industry to employ them  we now have Burlingame, unsold units, aging unkept properties and retirees being asked to vacate to let seasonal employees rent.

We can continue to try and bend the system to shallow ideas or we can take a long cold hard look at the present reality and adapt (one of those Darwinian words "adapt" which is different than the verb "react")

1. Aspen is a town with a Seasonal Industry. As long as the Seasonal Industry lasts there will be a need for temporary housing (rentals). The City of Aspen has decided to help Seasonal Businesses by providing low cost housing to temporary employees. This was first attempted by Companies for their employees in the 19th century and was considered a huge innovation it was called "Social Capitalism". It is my opinion by separating Employee Housing from the fortunes of the Company we've broken that model.

2. The young, the "employable" are the least vulnerable amongst us.  It is my opinion that a Community is judged by how it treats the *most* vulnerable.

3. The more diverse a Community is the stronger it is (old, young, rich, poor, multi racial, multi cultural). It is my opinion until rich and poor rub elbows the bickering will continue and the Community will suffer. That was the Aspen which we "old farts" miss, where no one gave a hoot who you were, just if you could ski. You could be forgiven even that if you threw a good party (damn we used to have more fun).

You want to use housing quotas? Then you should include ethnicity, age and education- or just abandon the quota system.

A development without a green area or a place for kids to play shall not pass. Better yet, a development without a coffee house shall not pass. 

Bring essential services (schools and hospitals) back into the core.  As you increase the density you lower the footprint. Throw out the "zoning" rules, let pop up businesses thrive- anywhere. "Messy vitality" doesn't come from Government it comes from necessity and invention. 

Full disclosure, I have one of those "small rentals" in Aspen and it is a chunk of change to move in. The City could bring down some of my costs (taxes) and/or grant housing subsidies to Seasonal Employees.  The City *cannot* keep "playing landlord" renting/selling below cost and render the Community Services which should be it's primary responsibility.