In Praise of Non-Profit Developers

26 February 2009 - 5:00am

John King of the San Francisco Chronicle trumpets the work of Bridge Housing in increasing the availability of quality affordable housing in the Bay Area. But is it enough? New studies say affordable housing is an uphill battle.

"'Existential' isn't a word associated with apartments and condominiums, but the ongoing efforts to build affordable housing in California are downright you-know-what.

What's been accomplished is heroic, especially in the Bay Area. The results often benefit entire neighborhoods as well as the residents. The overall numbers are impressive, measured in the tens of thousands.

All of which is well and good. But after a decadeslong run, during which housing costs in San Francisco and Silicon Valley drove workers to distant subdivisions now ghostly, the challenge is as daunting as ever: finding a way to make this region and state a place where people of all income levels can find safe, attractive places to live."

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, February 24, 2009
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But why not just require basic accessibility, such as no-step entrances and wider doorways? It seems off the mark to argue that it's inappropriate to place this kind of requirement on homebuilders.