Last week I received a provocative question from Betsy Morris, Housing Director in San Diego, following my point of view regarding the older portfolio. Betsy writes about her dilemma in translating simple solutions to complex problems without the consequences of oversimplifying. This conflicts with the complexity of the problem. One elected official I spoke with doesn't want to take on housing because it feels like a bottomless pit. A new library has a price tag as well as a beginning and ending.
Affordable housing feels never-ending.
She asked me how I would respond to this speech. I would suggest simple illustrations of successes. I would suggest illustrations which involve community and people, and help folks to see that the issue is not just housing. Churches in the suburbs of Seattle each rented one house for folks moving out of institutional settings. The church was the tenant of record.