Affordable housing does not necessarily mean more crime
Affordable housing does not necessarily mean more crime
The perception that building affordable and low-income housing will lead to an increase in crime is valid, in some respects. The old stereotypical low-income tenements built in many large cities surely attracted the criminal element. But when cities like Morgan Hill build state-mandated affordable housing in which the poor and middle class can live, the idea that those neighborhoods are more crime ridden than any other neighborhood is, well, a farce.
It’s obvious that when you cram more and more poor people into smaller and smaller spaces without outlets for children and teens, crime will follow.
But that’s not what will happen here.
Units are for those families earning less than $126,000 a year
With a population of almost 40,000, the city’s draft Housing Element states that the city is ready to build 810 units of housing over seven years for low-income families who make less than $31,000 to those who earn as much as 126,000 a year. This is new construction.
The city is not teeming with low-income units. In fact, the city does have enough to meet the needs of good people who contribute to our community that want to live here. These homes are for teachers, carpenters and police officers.
City, residents should strive to be diverse and inclusive
When a developer gets approval to build, say, 25 homes, most will be market rate. A certain percentage of the homes are allocated to those with extremely low, very low, low, and moderate income levels.
The idea is to create a diverse community, not jam dozens of poor families together with little support. And, that support is vital to the success of a community.
Any development with affordable housing should encompass programs for all children to include them in the social fabric of the neighborhood.
Painting low-income rental and below market rate homes with the same broad brush is disingenuous. If we want to be a great city, we need to be diverse and inclusive.
