06-26-2015, 08:59 AM
(06-26-2015, 07:27 AM)BuildingScout Wrote:mpd618 Wrote:and to have strong incentives or programs to create subsidized housing in areas (like downtown) with good access.
Subsidized housing also known as projects, which trap people in a bad environment.
It depends on how the subsidies are done. Certainly there are plenty of bad examples in the US, and even places like the Jane-Finch corridor in Toronto. But it does work in other places.
But subsidizing the construction of appropriate buildings (rather than the rents) through property tax credits etc, to encourage building of new apartment buildings that can accommodate lower-income tenants is not quite the same. And a key point is to make sure those buildings are integrated into non-subsidized neighbourhoods, to avoid creating large subsidized ghettos (or projects).
Another option is to encourage (again, maybe through subsidies) new construction to include, say, 10% of apartment units to be "affordable", however that's defined.
Regarding mpd618's point about the neighbourhood conflicts, yes, this can happen. But I really do believe that many low-income people do want to live in a "nice" or "clean" home, as long as they can afford it. We just need to make those kinds of homes available, by focusing the construction costs on the essentials and not on fripperies. And making appropriate-size units, of course.