Quote:
Originally Posted by MorTech
Low income housing, on net, tend to be taxtakers rather than taxpayers. This is discouraging to local governments cuz it eats into their retirement accounts...errr...Budgets.
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Annnnnd for the folks in back who were too busy on their cell phones to pay attention the first two times:
LOW INCOME HOUSING IS NOT THE SAME THING AS AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
Affordable housing provides people starting out in their careers (such as medical professionals who've completed their internships, certifications, doctorates, etc, and now have a craptastic amount of loans to start paying back) the opportunity to live closer to where they work. That means they'll be paying taxes on these properties, paying taxes whenever they go to OUR restaurants, paying taxes on anything else that involves taxes, spending money to contribute to the continued and future success of all kinds of other businesses, keeping the accountants employed, maybe even BEING the accountants, and so on and so forth.
These won't be people living on welfare checks and section 8 housing. They'll be the younger people who support the Villages. There aren't enough nurses or doctors to staff the hospital or nursing facilities in The Villages. Do you want some 80-year-old attendant who is physically incapable of getting you from your wheelchair to your bed if you need an overnight stay in the hospital, because that's the best you can get within a half hour drive, willing to work for only $18/hour? Or would you be overjoyed knowing that your attendant is the 28-year-old husband of a gal who finished her residency at NYU last year and the good doctor moved her family south, but wanted to be closer to the Regional/Spanish Plaines/Whatever hospital than what she'd get in Middleton, at half the price?
You might not remember that the hospital actually put a bounty out for new doctors last year. They offered a reward to anyone who could refer one that got hired and stuck around. That's how bad it is. We need "affordable" (NOT LOW INCOME - it means something different) family homes that aren't owned or developed by The Villages.
Weirsdale is in Marion County. Grand Oaks is in Weirsdale, and should appeal to Marion County for services that allow for MODEST development that preserves the rural atmosphere while allowing for family housing and modest amenities (a couple of pools, rec center/meeting hall, luncheonette, and maybe a commissary/canteen). Maybe have a community garden where people can grow vegetables and have communal harvesting/sharing to save money and support that whole idea of rural living.