assembly square - somerville (affordable low income housing) (Cambridge, Newton: section 8, apartments)

[greenpie]

Hi,

I heard that there are some low income affordable housing available at new development - Assembly Square - Somerville.

I understand the need of putting affordable housing in the new development; however, I feel unfair for those people who work hard for the better living and therefore can't meet the financial requirement.


I am just wondering in terms of finishes (such as quality of appliances or floor etc) those units assigned for low income affordable housings are different from those at standard price. ($600 affordable housing VS $2500 standard price). If finishes are exactly the same......I think it's very unfair to those people who pay full amount of $2500 for 1 bed room.

[ThatGuy781]

Originally Posted by greenpie

Hi,

I heard that there are some low income affordable housing available at new development - Assembly Square - Somerville.

I understand the need of putting affordable housing in the new development; however, I feel unfair for those people who work hard for the better living and therefore can't meet the financial requirement.


I am just wondering in terms of finishes (such as quality of appliances or floor etc) those units assigned for low income affordable housings are different from those at standard price. ($600 affordable housing VS $2500 standard price). If finishes are exactly the same......I think it's very unfair to those people who pay full amount of $2500 for 1 bed room.

I'm not sure about that particular development but generally there's a lot of oversight over this kind of housing and the quality of "affordable" units tends to be pretty good (Neighbors is a totally different story).

[goyguy]

Someone who butchers the language with "housings" and so on should be more concerned about the obnoxious assumptions that are out there about "illegal" immigrants, then whether someone "deserves" a subsidized apartment or not. It's because public and Section 8 buildings end up incubating more problems when poverty is concentrated that the focus is on constructing mixed-income developments now.

In my neighborhood, within 1/4 mile of where I live, there are "traditional" public housing projects as well as Section 8 townhouses + apartments. The latter are either mixed-income at present or transitioning. Guess what - there's little or no effect on the low crime rate for the area. Property prices stay sky-high (which in turn keeps up the demand for housing assistance.) Around Alewife Station, several large new complexes have opened quite recently and all have units set aside for tenants with vouchers. In contrast to the monolithic Fresh Pond Towers and the Jefferson Park "projects," there's nothing in these developments to betray the fact that not everyone there can pay the full market rental rate. They are quiet, safe, and clean, with all of the residents as cordial to one another as is normal in this smartphone/iPod era. Not only is breaking up the density of poorer populations essential to this, so is responsive on-site management.

Yes, there are subtle and not-so-subtle ways apartments set aside for subsidized tenants differ from the ones carrying the full price tag. In elevator buildings the Section 8 and other set-aside places are typically the farthest walk from the front door or the elevator. Should there be expansive views from the upper stories, you know who won't be enjoying them except as visitors. When a source of unwelcome noise is close by, such as at the new "Vox on [Route] Two" complex, guess where most if not all of the residents "on assistance" have their windows pointing? The new Assembly Square buildings going up will in some cases be very close to the Orange Line and commuter-rail tracks. So it's a no-brainer where the lower-income folks will end up. Other less noticeable corners are also cut, such as with kitchen cabinets and counter tops.

So it's not as clear cut as a parent's being able to say, "Don't do like I did. Stay in school and you won't wind up stuck in a place like this." But they can still say, "Stay in school and you can rent a place on the other side of the building away from the trains, and on the 17th floor so you can see the harbor out the window."

I do agree that rental price tables are "unfair" in terms of excusing a subsidized resident's need to pay any more than a set percentage of what they earn. The theory in effect is that everybody in the building or complex is managing their incomes the same way. But the reality is that most people who are able to work full-time in professional positions are still needing to set aside a higher percentage of their take-home pay to cover the rent. CEO's being paid eight-figure salaries - while employee wages stagnate or drop - are part of the actual problem here, though. It's not the disabled, the elderly, or the unemployed or under-employed who in the vast majority of instances do NOT want to be tangled in government bureaucracy no matter what Fox News says.

[timberline742]

If you think it is unfair don't rent there. Simple.

I, for one, am thankful everyday I earn too much to qualify for affordable housing.

[BostonMike7]

I dated a woman who did qualify. Single mother of 3, struggling to pay her bills, fighting with the ex over his meager child support payments, etc etc.

She paid less for a 2BR apt than I did for my 1BR, but at the same time, she struggled with basic bills. I helped trim unnecessary items out of the budget, but it was still tough for her...even with the discounted housing.

The oversight was there too. Every year she had to reapply for it with income levels and such.

So yeah, while on paper it sounds unfair, I for one am happy that I don't qualify because along with low-income housing comes the stress of being...well....low income.

[semiurbanite]

We need more of this housing, before Somerville becomes like 02138 in Cambridge - upscale and only affordable to the wealthy. We are a high income household raising a family in Somerville, and it would be a shame for this city to lose it's character - much of which comes from the funky artists and non-profit types that need this type of housing to stay here. The last thing I want is to be surrounded by people that are too much like me, which I would get in Wellesley and Newton.

[Teika]

What is unfair is that people cannot afford to pay $800, $1,000 and more for a room in Somerville, or Cambridge. Yes, I wrote room. I won the lottery for Assembly Row in Somerville. I am still waiting to get in and even though I have a very low number, I probably will never get there. I also worked two jobs, raised my children and continued to work. I am now on a fixed income and cannot afford an apartment paying 2,500 a month.

Just some statistics for you "Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost burdened and may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. An estimated 12 million renter and homeowner households now pay more than 50 percent of their annual incomes for housing. A family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States."

[url=http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/comm_planning/affordablehousing/]Affordable Housing - CPD - HUD[/url]

Life is unfair and we make a lot of assumptions about people based on stereotypes and prejudices.

[charolastra00]

We just need more housing in general. The relative low-density of triple deckers result in lots of young professionals bunking up with multiple roommates (myself included) and ends up pushing out young families. I live in Medford and will be impacted for the next 2 years by bridge work in Medford center, so I've been looking at apartments closer to work in Waltham. 3 years ago when I moved here, it was easy to find $600 a month rooms that were decent in Waltham and Medford - even occasionally in Watertown and the outskirts of Newton! Not so much anymore. My landlord is good to us here and because we're good tenants, has not raised the rent much over the years. The apartment downstairs in our 2 family is identical to ours, but the landlord re-let it a few months ago for $400 a month more than what we pay. It's not worth it to move, in the end.

Low income housing helps, but there's not enough. Furthermore, there's not enough housing period for the demand which is why you could easily be paying $1000 for a room close to the T.

I just helped a dear friend find an apartment in Providence and having looked at both studios and roommate situations for him, I'm just shocked that more jobs aren't moving south to take advantage of the affordability. He will be living with 2 roommates in a gorgeous house in a good neighborhood for $375 a month - utilities included. He was paying $550 + utilities in Malden with 3 roommates in a triple decker that is being sold as a tear-down because it's so dilapidated.

I would love to see more dense housing with a mix of affordable and "luxury" units, rather than all these new $2500 for a studio luxury buildings that aren't doing much for the core population who is feeling the housing pinch.

[wolfgang239]

The whole region needs more affordable housing. Assembly Row isn't the kind of place a Salvadoran cook at Legal Seafoods can "live, work and play". But that is what the Mayor seemed to think these national minimum wage paying company's employees would be able to do.

There is no way the region will ever be affordable as a whole. Chelsea, Everett, Revere, etc. could be a major part of the solution if transit was more equitable. That would be a good start at least.