Thursday, April 17, 2014

Lake Worth - Catering to the developers and the poor?

Comment Up
A three story building four stories tall
and close to the road

The city commission says that this is "cool."  They say it is not "affordable" housing but "workforce" housing. Please note that Workforce housing is generally understood to mean affordable housing for households with earned income that is insufficient to secure quality housing in reasonable proximity to the workplace. Source:  Wikipedia.

So what we will be getting folks is MORE affordable housing within the City of Lake Worth and more rentals in a city with over 60% rentals now.  The commission thinks this is great stuff because the way it stands at the moment, the city, instead of the CRA, will get the ad valorem from this project unlike the rest of the six suggestions that have been proposed by the consultant they hired to figure out how to build on every square inch of dirt in this city.

What do they care? This is in the far western end of the community, an area they won't have to drive by, look at or even visit. We, across the lake, will be reminded every day as it is in full view. We have more poor in America today than we did 40 years ago. The government, by not enforcing its immigration laws and ignoring our borders, encourage illegal immigrants who, for the most part, are only qualified for minimum pay jobs. Raising the minimum wage will not help these people and the cycle grows.

According to Salon, We’re not sure how to handle the fact that a quarter of people who have jobs today make so little money that they also receive some form of public assistance, or welfare – a proportion that’s much higher in some of the fastest-growing sectors of the workforce. Or that 60 percent of able-bodied adult food-stamp recipients are employed. We are becoming a nation of poor by choice and Lake Worth is inadvertently contributing to the problem.

12 comments:

Lake Worth Centenarian said...

You know you are OLD when everything was better in the OLD days and the world just keeps looking bleaker and bleaker each day. Things just aren't like they used to be. :(

Lynn Anderson said...

With age, comes wisdom. Remember the old saying--Your mother is always right.

Anonymous said...

I've lived in lake worth since the early 90's and it totally sucked back then. The city is way better now. Can't quite say the same about the good ole USofA overall though. Every great nation must fall sooner or later.

Anonymous said...

I'm not necessarily against this project, but every time the Mayor speaks she complains about the % of rentals and the % of poor people in the city. As such, it seems odd that we keep approving rental projects if we are trying to increase home ownership. Further, why keep doing work force projects when we have tons and tons of inexpensive property available for sale and rental. Work force housing should be required in areas where working people can't afford to rent or buy, that's not us.

Lynn Anderson said...

@4:08--it doesn't have to fall with the right leadership. We don't have that now.

Anonymous said...

Pam Triolo, Scott Maxwell and Andy Amaroso ALL ran on increased HOE OWNERSHIP within Lake Worth. A Anon at 4:11 said, Mayor Triolo condemns Rentals with one side of her mouth,while the other side is approving of large RENTAL projects in the city. I guess Pam ,Scott and Andy are just liars.

Anonymous said...

The land where this project is being built was zoned multi-family. That means that no one in the city can prevent it from being built if it meets the necessary criteria under our laws. Sure it would have been nice if someone built a residential community of single family upscale homes on this site but lets face it, would you want to live here. Rents in this complex will start at over $800 a month and go up over a thousand a month. That's no low income housing. Condo's in our city are selling for less than $50,000 and some houses are listed at $30,000 or less. That means no taxes to support our city from non-rental units. It's time we face the reality that we cannot continue as a city without collecting taxes. So you don't like this rental complex and you don't like more renters coming to the city. What do you suggest the commission do with little to no money to fix this problem?

Lynn Anderson said...

You haven't had problems changing zoning when it is convenient. For you, this was all about the tax base. This is supposed to be commercial and industrial, or so we all were led to believe. We notice what you want to to at the TOD's and eliminate residential housing for blocks right there at LW road and the tracks for high density. No one can help that property values went down the tubes. It is up to you to do something about value...building affordable rentals is definitely NOT the answer. All this will bring more problems.

Also, you don't know what "affordable" rentals mean--please read my blog
http://lynn-a.blogspot.com/2014/03/economic-development-is-not-cure-all.html
to see what HUD says is AFFORDABLE.

Anonymous said...

It's up to who to fix this problem of no tax base? Fact is no one is coming into this city to build residential anything. How do you suggest we fix the problem with no tax revenue. All I am saying is that you can be against everything this commission is doing bu at least say what they can do that they are not and where they should get the money. You have no solutions whatsoever but are so quick to say that this project is bad. How do we get industrial buildings without the money to put in the infrastructure to support it. How do we get more families to move here without the money to provide needed services? How much in taxes will this building pay to our city? How much will the residents on south E, F and all the streets south of Lake pay? Sad fact is those residents will pay almost nothing. But that building will pay a whole lot to help support those non-payers.

Lynn Anderson said...

Well, commissioner, you have already decided how to get more taxbase--build more affordable housing that will attract slum, blight and crime and bring down all the surrounding properties around it. :)
We'll have to wait and see what happens after they are built and people living in them awhile. :) :) :)
What happens when this developer devises a way to flip and become a 501C or something and is subsidized on government grants for building workforce housing and all the people living in it are subsidized as well. What happens then to your taxbase?

Anonymous said...

Moron-don't you understand that the few working people left are paying 600.00 of that 800.00 dollar "rent" ? That land was supposed to be for INDUSTRIAL use, NOT dwelling spaces. Several P.B.S.O guys are NOT happy about this future GHETTO that will keep them busy day and night !!! Too bad we can't force the Mayor ,Commission and city staff to have to live in the PROJECTS that they approve. The rest of us are stuck living next to their bad decisions.

Lynn Anderson said...

Please, and I have asked nicely over and over again...read the policy, NO MORE WORDS LIKE moron, clowns, etc. Thanks.