Affordable
Housing? Only in Your Dreams I told you in my column of July, 1999, that there wasnt any affordable housing in Western Nevada County. Its a year later, and nothing has changed. If youre not worried, you ought to be, because thats bad for the county and it suggests that bad times are coming. Why? It should be obvious, but Ill point this out to those who live under rocks or work in government: the lack of decent, affordable housing (to buy or rent) is linked to attracting and keeping decent businesses here. I mean, go figure. The businesses employ people who need a place to live. No housing, no employees, no business, and the county is down the septic system. Even those who extol the virtues of tourism and eco-business for Nevada County will recognize that motel clerks, kayak salespersons, and woodcarvers need to live somewhere. The cardboard shack so popular in Honduras wont cut it here. Dont think for a moment this county builds affordable houses. It builds old-age homes and mini-mansions. Other than that, realtors recycle 1970s and 1980s homes at inflated prices. What, you may say, is the cause of this aberration in planning for the countys healthy future? First, government stupidity. Second, colossal greed. Third, cowed developers. Arent you tired of County government substituting symbolism for results? Let me bring dispel some government misdirection, propose some new housing truths, and then get on to a solution.
How about a solution that will house about 4000 people? Ill spell it out for you:
This proposal is more concrete than any Ive heard coming out of the Board of Supervisors. The former pro-development Board of Supervisors wanted to approve the upscale 300-home Dark Horse project without an EIR. The current no-vision Board of Supervisors wants to approve nothing. A few of you remember the Nevada County Dark Ages. In late 1957, Nevada City was a ghost town. Most of Commercial Street was boarded up. Grass Valley was just about as bad. Let me suggest to you that a New Dark Age is coming. A county without affordable housing will have no businesses, no jobs, and no young people. Can the bad old days come back? You bet! Barry Schoenborn is a technical writer, and a 12-year resident of Nevada County. His column appears the second Saturday of the month. barry@wvswrite.com is his e-mail address. The opinions of columnists are not necessarily those of The Union. |