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For charlotte to be the diverse big time city it has to be its only fair that the entire city be diverse. No section should become an area that stands out as one that doesnt welcome this. This is 2010 not 1960 . By banning low cost homes you rob good law obeying citizens of the right to blend into a healthy society even though they cant afford the high dollar homes near by. Its progress at its best.
Ballantyne already has many options for housing for people of all diversity and all income levels. I don't know why people don't seem to get this point
I guess it goes along with what a pp mentioned up there: those who don't live in Ballantyne don't have a clue what they are talking about and are the only ones supporting this project.
When I see the term 'entry-level service jobs' in Mr. Cooksey's position statement, I think of employers such as Wal-Mart & Burger King, just to name a couple.
Consequently, I have to ask (as do most of the folks on this thread) 'Why do they need an $1800 stipend for housing if there are plenty of vacant apartments within 15-20 minutes which can be rented for the current $800.00 voucher limit?'
Folks who live in communities such as Ballantyne who have earned their way into being able to buy homes and/or condos in this neighborhood by getting an education & job which allows them to do so should not have to have their taxes raised (guaranteed) and quality of life negatively impacted (another guarantee) for social engineering purposes, which has never worked in any major US city.
If they wish to stipulate that only civil servants (police, schoolteachers, etc.) can live theire, that's fine.
If they wish to stipulate that only seniors, the elderly and disabled can live there, that's fine.
But there is no reason to spend $$$$ that the city doesn't have for folks who don't have something called ambition to improve their own standard of living.
Trust me--I've lived in LA for my entire life, and social engineering and/or efforts to 'level the playing field' and/or 'spread the wealth around' have never worked here, or in NYC, Philly, Detroit (duh!!!!), Chicago or any major US city.
Most 'affordable housing' projects fail because government-created zoning and other land restrictions (and screaming 'PRESERVE OPEN SPACE' is really hilarious in a country where over 93% of the land is undeveloped!!!)inevitably exacerbates the 'affordable housing shortage' from coast to coast.
You folks definitely need to raise some major **** at the top of your lungs, and don't stop until you destroy this project; if it means sending Mr. Cooksey to the unemployment line in the next election, then so be it.
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You folks definitely need to raise some major **** at the top of your lungs, and don't stop until you destroy this project; if it means sending Mr. Cooksey to the unemployment line in the next election, then so be it.
He just gained re-election to this seat just last November in an election that had a dismal turnout. Charlotte voted, what few did vote, for the status quo. This is what is being dished out now.
You took a quote from a WSOC story out of context. Yes, the mayor met with HUD. The only mention of the $1,800 is this quote from James Mitchell:
"What we need federal legislators to do is to raise the cap so that Section 8 vouchers instead of being $800 dollars will be let's say $1,800 and then you will see more of a disbursement of the Section 8 vouchers throughout our community"
I agree, $1800 is excessive for this town, but it was an offhand comment and a high-ball offer. He'll be lucky to get $1,000.
In Charlotte, First Ward Place is mixed-income. There is Siegle Point near Piedmont Middle, which is new and for which I think the jury is still out.
Most studies will show that poor people in mixed-income neighborhoods have higher rates of success, education and job prospects. There is the issue of acceptance by neighbors, however, which tends to increase the tension in the neighborhood.
I read the entire link that you posted.
This link states:
"At first glance, a mixed-income approach seems like a common-sense idea that should be readily adopted. If the isolation of low-income families is a major problem, housing them with middle-class households within a development seems an ideal approach to promoting their social and economic integration. Despite the seemingly solid rationale, relatively little research has been conducted to substantiate claims that mixed-income housing developments per se can lead to positive benefits for poor families. Compiling evidence to definitively answer the question of the effectiveness of mixed-income housing is beyond the scope of this paper."
So how do you know if this is success?
It also states:
"There is little evidence so far that low-income tenants improve their life chances in mixed-income developments."
And.."
Rather than acting as stabil-izing forces, many developments instead contributed to the problems of the neighborhood. For example, of the 1,251 households in the Cabrini-Green development in Chicago in 1996, only seven percent of the tenants worked, 90 percent were on public assistance, and the average income was $6,000.
In this setting, violent crime became rampant, leading one of the parks in the development to be nicknamed "the killing field."
The above supposedly is an extreme example but if these projects don't work what's the point? There has to be another solution but I think it just seems easier for the government to give free money to them and build some new houses. We don't need more housing! And there has to be another way.
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