I was asked to appear on camera to give my perspective on a Housing Authority of Champaign County mixed income development that is about to start construction adjacent to an upscale single family subdivision in west Champaign. See the news story below. The development is being built on land that has been zoned for this sort of use for a decade, And since it is a project of the housing authority, not the city itself, there is nothing the city can do to block it. That is, so long as the project is properly permitted and adheres to applicable codes, is is allowed to go up as a matter of right. While some in the nearby neighborhoods are convinced that it means their neighborhoods will go straight to hell in a hand basket, I happen not to agree with that opinion, and I also think it is counter-productive to act as though the apocalypse is coming to their neighborhood. That line of thinking seems destined to scuttle the very property values that these folks are concerned about--i.e., their own--before the first brick has been laid for this new complex. Units set aside for subsidies for those making less than 60% of the median income means that a family of four with an income of $40,000 would be eligible to receive a subsidy to enable it to afford a brand new, energy efficient, family sized apartment. Such families might well include single mothers with solid, professional full time jobs that are the same jobs that are second incomes in the nearby upscale single family neighborhoods. The world is not ending at Turnberry Ridge. illinoishomepage.net/story/d/story/neighbors-worry-housing-development-will-lower-pro/10564/5oMwO8fNIUmR4sjvgLeKlw
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 00:08:41 +0000