|
|
Thursday, August 12, 2004Middle-class crunch Slow-growth initiatives may slow growth, but they drive out affordable housing. In today's FLS, there is an excellent editorial regarding the status of affordable housing in the Fredericksburg area, revolving around Bowling Green's search former town manager candidate Gary Elander: Mr. Elander didn't think the town's salary offer was too low (those in this community who earn much less would no doubt agree); he rightly deemed the Greater Fredericksburg real-estate market out of control. When the head man of a locality's government can't make enough to live there, we've got a problem. When police and sheriff's deputies, teachers and EMTs can't afford to live where they work, there's a problem. (This argument surfaced in Stafford County during last year's debate over requiring larger building-lot sizes in rural areas.) When college-educated married professionals have to fork out $300,000 or more to move up from their starter home, there's a problem.The problem isn't so much with slow-growth initiatives as it were, but rather with the manner of which they are being implemented to date in the area. Slow-growth in the past meant exactly that - slow the growth. Formerly, in high growth localities, the best way to do this was to take hold of the Comprehensive Plan and squeeze the growth into one location, slow zoning requests, and specify a preference for either retirement communities or large, expensive homes on five acre lots. The downside to this is pure economics - housing is in demand, and as the demand increases, the price goes up. Not only do we not provide the townhomes and starter homes to meet the demand, we drive up the prices of existing homes. Quickly it becomes a have/have not scenario. We have to keep in mind several things that growth impacts on the local level - specifically school construction and transportation. Currently, the transportation grid in the region is woefully underprepared for the growth we are already experiencing. Secondly, with public school costs spiraling out of control, the impact on the taxpayer for inviting "affordable housing" soom makes the idea counter-intuitive. Quality of life suffers, and Fredericksburg begins to look more like Fairfax, only worse. So what is the solution? One, we have to take a bite out of the cost of public education. Vouchers, better planning, less administration, and above all else a system that can function without a 13% increase per year when faced with a 5% increase in enrollment. Fixing public education makes the argument for affordable housing (children and all) more plausible, because it sucks the air out of the planning argument that retirement homes and large expensive lots - while preventing affordable housing - keeps the cost of education down. Cost is the prime issue, and it needs to be resolved now. Second, transportation is the key (and I would argue it should be a higher priority than education at this point). The Spotsylvania BOS has the right idea by committing 10% of the tax revenue from Southpointe II towards transportation needs, and frankly it should be on the order of 100% dedicated towards transportation. Better to do it now and do it well than be forced to do it 20 years later on the order of the Fairfax County Parkway, where homes and communities were being torn apart and torn down in order to meet transportation needs. Smart growth isn't the problem when it comes to affordable housing. Dumb growth masquerading as smart growth is, and the sooner we can fathom and resolve the costs to local government, the easier it will be to tackle the problem of affordable housing in the Fredericksburg area.
|
|
JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General?1) John Brownlee2) Ken Cuccinelli AboutShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.ContactThe Jeffersoniad
ArchivesMarch 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 April 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009
|
|
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Home