There is a social cost, with people living in isolation from one another and lacking basic understanding of the culture and worldviews of people different from themselves. There is a civic cost, when some members of our society feel alienated from participation in our democracy and do not exercise the rights and responsibilities of full citizenship. Public policy issues should be analyzed under the lens of interdependence in order to ensure a minimum standard of social and economic well being below which no one is allowed to fall. Comprehensiveness Achievement of the goal of a decent home in a suitable environment for everyone and economic empowerment strategies in general must be comprehensive and integrative. Each system is essential to individual, family, and neighborhood well being and must be addressed as an integrated whole.
Housing is embedded in social and economic fabric of communities.
Housing development is a component of community development that cannot be viewed in isolation. The symbiosis between housing development and community social and economic development must be understood if we are to succeed at either. It is important to understand how fundamental good housing and economic opportunity are to healthy human development. Housing stability achieved through affordability, preservation, and neighborhood safety are essential to successful participation in the workforce by the adults in a family, to children s educational achievement, to fulfillment of the responsibilities of parenthood, and to the maintenance of good health and productivity of people at all ages. A responsive and responsible housing policy is built on recognition of the centrality of housing to successful passage through each stage of the human life cycle.