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other Phoenix suburbs. Dissidents equate apartments and the people who live in them with “the projects” of yesteryear and all the problems they bring. Cabrini-Green. Pruitt-Igoe. ABLA. If you recognize any of those names, it’s likely because they were the most notorious examples of how well-intentioned ideas failed some of the country’s poorest people. These public housing projects were immortalized in Hollywood — look at 1992’s Candyman — or in the news, like the 1987 Chicago Reader article about the horrific and preventable murder of Ruthie Mae McCoy in Chicago’s Abbott Homes apartment. These government-funded public housing projects were part of a utopian, modernist pipe dream and midcentury urban renewal in which architecture and government could unite to morph slums into what should have been a steppingstone toward the American Dream. Tempe economist Jim Rounds has taken a special interest in Pinal County. His expert analysis suggests apartments are necessary for the type of economic growth Maricopans yearn for.
WILL AFFORDABLE, MULTIFAMILY HOUSING HELP THE CITY’S ECONOMY?
14% Yes
2% No opinion
84% No
poor construction quality, condensed living quarters, dwindling maintenance funds, a rapid rise in violent crime and concentrated urban poverty, and you all but guarantee the failure of public housing. While economically segregated high-rises like those described aren’t in the works in Maricopa, the comparisons haven’t stopped. “I refer to that massive project at Porter [Road] and Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway as Copa Cabrini. It may not be high rises like Cabrini-Green was, but it’s the same concept,” Santa Rosa Springs homeowner Terry Crowe said of the Copa Flats apartments. Efforts to provide affordable housing for low-income families nowadays takes the form of small- scale, mixed-income housing to reduce economic segregation and improve property values. “There was a lot of pressure on us for people to look at this development and say, ‘Oh, that’s where the affordable housing project is,’” Surak said. The spice of life Despite the nimbies, the city has marched forward in building apartments with five multifamily developments offering 1,200 units at both affordable and market-rate pricing. Several more projects are in the planning stages. According to Tempe economist Jim Rounds, the president of Rounds Consulting who has taken a special interest in Maricopa, apartments are a cog in the machine that will create economic growth throughout Pinal County. “We see a lot of [economic] opportunity,
Unfortunately, the timing was wrong. Racial segregation in the 1960s and discriminatory practices like redlining prevented minorities from adequately gaining social and economic mobility. Add
MARICOPANS SOUND OFF ON APARTMENTS
but those opportunities can slip if you don’t take advantage of it,” he told InMaricopa . For Rounds, that means enticing the tech industry’s $850 million investments in the county, which would attract a variety of lower- and middle-income jobs. “The strongest economy is a diverse economy,” he said. “You can’t just create high- wage jobs without creating lower-wage jobs, because not everybody at Walmart is going to make the $250,000 that a dentist may make.” City Manager Ben Bitter agreed. “We are not in a position to tell people that they can’t invest within our community,” he told InMaricopa . “That’s anywhere from a homeowner to a large business that wants to come and invest in Maricopa.” It’s economically beneficial to offer housing for a variety of income levels, according to both men. “If you create a job at a semiconductor manufacturer for $100,000 a year, you also created one at Walmart and McDonald’s because of how people spend their money,” Rounds said. “So, you need housing for everybody, even if you’re adding the high-wage jobs.” “If you create a job at a semiconductor manufacturer for $100,000 a year, you also created one at Walmart and McDonald’s because of how people spend their money.” JIM ROUNDS, CITY MANAGER
Garry D. Presume I don’t see how available housing, affordable or not, helps with economic growth. More businesses and jobs, yes.
Johann Casper Importing poor people might not be such a good idea.
Stacy Vallejo Why would we build more apartments when the ones already built are empty? Are they not leasing them so they can be housed by illegals? I do not see any signs that say “now leasing” on just about all the apartments buildings. Debra Holzapfel Valle Hell, no! What are they gonna do…put section 8 illegals in it? Or just section 8 in general? I don’t think we should be rewarding people that keep having kids and can’t afford them. And if they’re adults living with roommates, that’s fine….they’ll be able to afford any kind of housing that way. But you have to know that in the past affordable housing has always gone down the tubes…. look at places like Cabrini Green in Chicago.
Kathy Inman Need to be building more roads in and out of Maricopa before you bring more people in.
Deborah Hunter We need to have more jobs here. There are too many Apts, bungalows and new homes on the rise. Jobs will bring better economy. So more retail, industry, sit down restaurants first. Paul Kirincic Yes, it makes sense to build lower cost housing. By this, I mean apartments that are clean and modern but people who work at the local retail stores and restaurants can afford to live in. Allowing in Section 8 housing, however, is a bad decision. This almost always attracts people who don’t want to work, don’t want to maintain their home and despite being given every chance to succeed thanks to the taxpayer’s largesse, they still commit crime.
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InMaricopa.com | May 2024
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