In Shaw (an historically gentrified blog): Housing around

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Housing around

Affordable housing, workforce housing, low-income housing, subsidized housing, senior housing, market rate housing and the various aspects of those need to be illustrated in an easy to understand booklet because some of the subtlies and differences are getting lost on me. As a voter in Shaw, the differences matter because it is the politicos that can approve or tweak the various developments going up or around. I have an interest in the type of big buildings that go up with people with various needs and wants, that impact the kind of public and commerical ventures that come to the hood.
My current question regarding the differences is how and from where do the people who fill the different rental housing options come from? I wonder this because I'm trying to figure out where do people, who may not be invovled with any social service agency that may act as a clearinghouse, find out about housing that isn't market rate.
I also think back to my first Shaw apartment. It was on the corner of 12th and Rhode Island NW, in the basement, no AC (w/ window bars that wouldn't make a window unit possible), window near the dumpster, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, $525 ($633 in 2007 dollars). I found it in the Washington Post. Because of the location I thought it was a typo, but checked it out anyway. Nasty carpet and dead roaches littering the kitchen, I applied quickly. I think I had to state my income as part of the credit check, but I had just gotten a 'real' job a few weeks before so all I could show was my meager GS-6($26K) salary from the job before. I don't know if that was a qualification, I don't remember anyone mentioning it. I may have been technically, low or low-moderate income at that point. Also I didn't know if the building or unit was rent controlled or what the deal was, I decided not to look cheap centrally located housing in the mouth.
So I wonder is, will, affordable housing be advertised widely and in various mediums to attract various renters?

Labels: housing