Please do not believe me. Please find out the truth of this and everything for yourself. The truth is out there. If you do not believe me please go to other sources - trustworthy ones, such as the actual lease office - and find out the information for yourself. All it takes is a phone call. 281-576-6400 is the management company/leasing office. Just call and ask about how much it is to lease one of the places.
I have several times in this blog and in other public forums expounded on the fact that EAGLEBROOK APARTMENTS WILL NOT BE SECTION 8 HOUSING. Period. End of story.
This is from the developer, from the management agency handling the leases, and from several people (including our Chief of Police) who are considering a lease in the complex. Rents are pricey - in excess of $800 for most units. Does this sound like Section 8 housing to you?
As I have repeatedly explained, affordable housing comes in three major categories - low-rent places that are just low-rent, Section 8 government-subsidized housing, and housing that is being subsidized that is not Section 8. The thing to keep in mind (once again) is that the City has absolutely NO control over whether or not a developer chooses to put apartments on his/her property. None. Zero. We have no choice. We can restrict where they are, we can govern what the exterior looks like, we can regulate the number of units allowed on a certain piece of land. But whether or not the developer wants apartments on a given parcel is a business decision that the City has no part in. A developer has the right to develop his/her land according to the desires and regulations at the time of development, just like everyone else.
More troubling to me, perhaps, is the stigma associated with Section 8 housing. Poor people need a place to stay. I have been poor in my life and have worked my way through school, living in several different apartments along the way, in following my goals. Housing choice gives people an opportunity to participate in good, wholesome communities for their entire life - newly married/still in school/apartment folks move on to smaller homes with children which transitions (perhaps) to something bigger which empty-nesters may find unnecessary and they transition back into apartments or condominiums. They are the SAME PEOPLE, same dreams, goals, hopes. But their housing needs and desires change. With having only one, single type of housing available we are restricting the warp and woof of our community's fabric which leads to boring, weak, and unsuccessful communities. Vibrant and successful communities are those which allow opportunities for ALL it's residents for their entire lives. Our interest, care, and respect shown to these folks demonstrates more about us than it does them.
6 comments :
Excellent blog. Thank's for all the updates it is appreciated.
Thanks for the update! This apartment community is an excellent sign of things to come. We should all be very excited to see what the next several years will bring.
As anyone with half a brain knows, section 8 housing brings crime. This is not stereotyping or profiling, it is fact, based on historical statistics. The small amount of good it may bring to a handful of people is not equivalent to the danger, damage and corruption it would bring to the good people already in the city. I am glad we as a city at least ensured that the apartments were somewhat upscale. Oh, and by the way, I grew up extremely poor myself. There were 6 of us in a rotted out two bedroom trailer house. I saw my parents take one handout after another and it did nothing but keep them from helping themselves. When you begin to think that people owe you something because they have more than you, you have condemned yourself to a life long swim in the pool of poverty. I was determined to never be that person. I too lived in low income housing and ratty rent houses once I left home. However, I clawed and scratched my way out of it through good work ethic and perseverance. I have seen first hand what kind of people those places generate. It is not something we want. They generally are not benefits to a community. This is abolutely NOT an excellent sign of things to come. It is a slippery slope.
If you had read this and several other posts explaining this, the apartments are NOT (repeat NOT) section 8 housing. But do not believe me - call the apartments yourself. The number is there in the post.
A slippery slope rationale is not a good argument. It's called a logical fallacy (more can be found here:http://www.fallacyfiles.org/slipslop.html). The past is not necessarily a good indicator of the future. Yes, we must learn from the past. But lessons learned and applied may help alter the sequence of events that would lead to the slippery slope you allude to. Hopefully we are smarter than those who have made mistakes before us.
I am glad you have found your way out of poverty. That's commendable. Personally, I'd like to extend that same opportunity to everyone.
That makes no sense. The past is THE absolute best indicator of the future if nothing is changed. Secondly, the opportunity to rise out of poverty is available to everyone. That is why America is the greatest country in world. Seems like we must agree to disagree.
Actually, we agree completely. You restated my point (the past does not determine the future).
America surely is the greatest country in the world. We agree on that as well.
There are opportunities here for growth and progression that are not available anywhere else in the world. We agree here, also.
The opportunities are not as equitable as I would like, however. In my particular vocation, I am most familiar with housing and land use, so I am attempting to make the world (as much as is in my meager power and within reason and legal constraint) a little more equitable.
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