passingthrough
New member
[quote author="graceomalley"]Affordable housing does tarnish the image of a community. It is very obvious in VOC's reputation. Residents and prospective homebuyers keep their criticisms in their heart rather than talking about it. It is not a politically correct thing to say.
The Irvine Company is aware of its impact and hid its location from all site exhibits and PR materials. You really have to try hard to dig up the info. A majority of the buyers and neighbors don't even know about it. The construction operation would be well hidden and takes a separate entrance point. It will be well screened and heavily landscaped along its edges. [/quote]
Sorry, Grace, I have to disagree. However, as someone who has seen many affordable developments, in and outside of Irvine, I can see why you might think this. Because Irvine is a fairly young communitiy, most of the housing stock, affordable or otherwise, is all pretty similar since it was all built around the same time as the surrounding units. In older communities, say Santa Ana or Anaheim, the affordable developments are always far nicer than their surrounding communities.
Also, why should the neighbors have a right to know where the affordable units are? If they look the same as everything else around them, and the residents are just as engaged in the local community, it's no one else's business what their status is. I grew up with friends and family who thought it quite uncouth to ask one's income status. How is it that where someone lives gives carte blanche to ignore this basic conversational etiquette?
I've run into many people who assume that some deadbeat in their neighborhood must be in an "affordable" unit. Since I know where many of the local affordable units are, I usually find that these people just ended up with a crappy market rate neighbor. Unfortunately, the idea of "affordable housing" just gets a bad rap whenever it is politically expedient to make it so.
Furthermore, because of the stringent residency restrictions required by the many government loans that these developments require to "pencil out", the notion that residents of these communities are somehow the local deadbeats is just plain wrong. The best that most private landlords can do is a credit check. The intake managers for affordable communities have to have applicants fill out applications that detail every aspect of their lives for years back that include far more than financial status (criminal history, use of public benefits, documented occupation history, child care situation, and much more). Any market rate renter/potential homeowner would probably be offended to be asked the kinds of information that affordable residents have to give up for the privilege of having a decent place to live.
And, usually because of their low income status, these residents have a huge incentive not to tick off either the neighbors or the property managers. To do so usually means an almost immediate instigation of eviction proceedings - something many private landlords have difficulty with, since they simply want to keep their unit occupied, and typically can't afford the lost revenue from an eviction proceeding.
The Irvine Company is aware of its impact and hid its location from all site exhibits and PR materials. You really have to try hard to dig up the info. A majority of the buyers and neighbors don't even know about it. The construction operation would be well hidden and takes a separate entrance point. It will be well screened and heavily landscaped along its edges. [/quote]
Sorry, Grace, I have to disagree. However, as someone who has seen many affordable developments, in and outside of Irvine, I can see why you might think this. Because Irvine is a fairly young communitiy, most of the housing stock, affordable or otherwise, is all pretty similar since it was all built around the same time as the surrounding units. In older communities, say Santa Ana or Anaheim, the affordable developments are always far nicer than their surrounding communities.
Also, why should the neighbors have a right to know where the affordable units are? If they look the same as everything else around them, and the residents are just as engaged in the local community, it's no one else's business what their status is. I grew up with friends and family who thought it quite uncouth to ask one's income status. How is it that where someone lives gives carte blanche to ignore this basic conversational etiquette?
I've run into many people who assume that some deadbeat in their neighborhood must be in an "affordable" unit. Since I know where many of the local affordable units are, I usually find that these people just ended up with a crappy market rate neighbor. Unfortunately, the idea of "affordable housing" just gets a bad rap whenever it is politically expedient to make it so.
Furthermore, because of the stringent residency restrictions required by the many government loans that these developments require to "pencil out", the notion that residents of these communities are somehow the local deadbeats is just plain wrong. The best that most private landlords can do is a credit check. The intake managers for affordable communities have to have applicants fill out applications that detail every aspect of their lives for years back that include far more than financial status (criminal history, use of public benefits, documented occupation history, child care situation, and much more). Any market rate renter/potential homeowner would probably be offended to be asked the kinds of information that affordable residents have to give up for the privilege of having a decent place to live.
And, usually because of their low income status, these residents have a huge incentive not to tick off either the neighbors or the property managers. To do so usually means an almost immediate instigation of eviction proceedings - something many private landlords have difficulty with, since they simply want to keep their unit occupied, and typically can't afford the lost revenue from an eviction proceeding.
