Affordable housing is much more complex | Letter to the editor

Posted

In the Sept. 9 edition of The Leader, Justine Gonzalez-Berg argues “people who do not work in local jobs... retired... remote jobs...” place “all of our local industries... at risk.”

This is called scapegoating and fosters division.

Retired and remote workers pump money into the local economy. I bet many contributed to The Rose’s fundraiser. Revenue from property taxes is up.

Those vacation rentals are occupied by people who eat and shop here (read: spend money and provide jobs). This isn’t trickle down — just recognize that our economy needs money moving to function, and this is new money coming into the community — we’re not just passing the same dollars back and forth.

She states, “No affordable housing, no workforce. No workforce, no recovery.”

The truth in that statement does not prove what follows.

The need to “protect housing from market forces...[be] smaller and denser...[and] converting vacation rentals to residential rentals...”

“[P]rotect housing from market forces” has different meanings, depending on your viewpoint, but it rarely works. The Cherry Street apartments is housing protected from “market forces.” How’s that working out? Perhaps the city can barge in some Soviet-era housing from Belarus — also protected from market forces. Just don’t put it on the golf course.

There are five houses under construction within four blocks of me. Builders are building because they can make a profit.

There’s a need for affordable housing, but not protected from market forces.

It’s a complex issue and doesn’t benefit from scapegoating people or catchy phrases.

Erik Poulsen
PORT TOWNSEND