Abstract
This penultimate chapter searches for solutions for meeting affordable housing needs. The context is that U.S. housing policy is more about stimulating real estate values than about providing affordable housing. The problem is especially obvious near heritage attraction sites where wealthy and healthy people cluster and where investors earn large profits. Few poor or lower middle income people live nearby. Wealthy cities like Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and New York have built and managed affordable housing, but with limited success compared to cities in northern Europe. The United Kingdom, for example, has a much stronger national program than the U.S., but its origin is a national mandate to provide affordable housing. Vienna had a period when a Socialist leaning local government built a great deal of affordable housing. Singapore responded to a housing crisis by buying land, building housing, and then leasing it to residents. At this time, the U.S. is ideologically-driven. I can envision innovations and investment in a few places discussed in the chapter. However, these are limited, especially if adding heritage attractions to affordable housing is part of the plan.
“Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some.”
The Commander in chapter 32 of the Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
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Greenberg, M. (2022). Looking for Better Affordable Housing Solutions. In: Environmental & Social Justice Challenges Near America’s Most Popular Museums, Parks, Zoos & Other Heritage Attractions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08183-5_9
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