They put together a committee of non-profit agencies and local governments to decide what to do and how to do it. Tierra Contenta, a masterplanned community in Santa Fe, N.M., offers affordable houses and apartments along with median priced properties. At the same time, city councilwoman Ouida MacGregor, former planning commissioner and owner with her husband of a small bed and breakfast inn, convinced the city council to buy 860 acres from a financially troubled developer and build Tierra Contenta, a community where 40 percent of the houses and apartments would be affordable to low-income families. It brought a tremendous amount of idealism. Jim Hannan, a Sante Fe roundtable committee member, talks to the group about efforts to build positive relations with new neighborhood groups who oppose affordable housing in their area.
Financial wizards know many ways to pay for affordable housing.
The real reason Santa Fe has been successful was that so many of its citizens were determined to succeed, roundtable members said. The Montoya and MacGregor initiatives threw Santa Fe into turmoil. Some developers resented the competition. Some citizens said the government shouldn't be in the development business. Others feared the money would be wasted and wouldn't really produce much affordable housing.