I only spent 2 years developing low and very low income housing but I expect to return to it when I find the right project. I have never pretended that my work was welcome in the community. Many fiercely opposed these projects and many welcomed them. The difference was directly related to how close they lived to the project.

The ‘policylink’ link above includes this statement:
“The strongest opposition to an IZ policy comes from private developers, the real estate community and public officials opposed to affordable housing.”
– To me this is completely ridiculous. I have never seen such resistance except when developers are forced to include affordable housing in a luxury project. My experience is that all the above see affordable housing as a necessity and a source of federal money.

It is the neighbors who strenuously object. They have invested their money, time and a portion of their lives and their children’s lives to their community and have every right to be concerned about a dramatic change proposed by outsiders.

It should be obvious that those communities with a voice have prevented the incursion of poor people. The poor, the sick, the sexual offenders are housed where residents don’t have the strength to fight it: struggling neighborhoods where people work multiple jobs to feed their families and spend their ‘spare time’ fixing the family car and clipping grocery coupons. If property values sometimes go up, it is because they have nowhere else to go.