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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 16, 2006 Model of co-housing could meet Ashland’s diverse needs By Steve Fabricant Japan 25-year resident of Ashland Skeptics say it is impossible to create affordable housing in Ashland. It is true that more infill, subsidies for developers, and resale restrictions are only Band-Aids. But difficult problems rarely have been solved by thinking “inside the box.” If we really desire city workers and other employed people of modest means to live in Ashland, we need to re-examine two assumptions: that we only see block after block of hip-roof neo-Craftsman “charmers,” and that everyone who wants or needs to live in Ashland needs to be a property owner. Higher-density housing is a realistic solution to sky-high land costs. A positive response to affordability is rental housing, outside the speculation paradigm that pushes housing costs steadily upward. Co-operative housing (www.coophousing.org/about_nahc.shtml) can realize these objectives — either market-based or subsidized — if housing costs are scaled to income. Would more high-density rentals signify the end of life as we know it in Ashland? Far from it. Well-planned density can inspire neighborhoods that sprawling suburbia does not. Good models exist in the U.S. and Europe, and even in our own city there have been praiseworthy efforts. We need income diversity in Ashland or we will become Carmel-in-the-Siskiyous where young families do not fit in. In many cities, high-density, co-operative communities are among the most vibrant and desirable places to live. This is because of the amenities associated with density, and because people of ordinary means can make great contributions to a community they have a stake in. If we build it, will they come? Would a fireman or a teacher prefer to pay an affordable monthly fee for a convenient, spacious apartment with shared open space in the community where he works, or commute from a distant, unattractive town while sweating out still difficult mortgage payments? Not everyone will choose cooperative rental housing, but it would be a viable option. Local debates suggest that alternative housing modes will not be established easily. But planning laws are on the books only because they were the community’s will at the time, and they can be changed when the will exists. Co-operatives require much planning and organization, and financing is always an issue. One of the most successful businesses in Ashland is a cooperative, so the experience and ability to build another resides here, perhaps with the city as a partner. It may be the only way “out of the box” to achieve affordable housing. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams