Rental Housing Cooperatives Can Help Solve The Housing Crisis
Rental cooperatives, community land trusts, creative financing, and proactive zoning make a turnaround possible
The American Dream is slipping away. When I was a new college graduate sixty years ago, everyone who was not poor could afford a house. It might have taken scrimping and saving, but it was doable. My first wife and I raised three children in a three bedroom 1200 sq. ft. house. Smaller is perfectly livable.
Everywhere are stories of young and poor people who struggle to both feed themselves and pay the rent. It is not enough to have a college education. An adverse turn can turn someone from middle class to poor, even something as simple as graduating. Being poor costs a lot more money than when I was young.
My town, Cambria CA, is an isolated tourist destination along the California Central Coast. It is prosperous but housing is extremely expensive. One bedroom apartments start around $2000 a month.
Many workers have to commute from 30 or 40 miles away. There is no new construction because of water restrictions. Yet 3 miles south there is open farm land used for cattle grazing. Perfect for an rental cooperative.
