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Topic: Community Gardening vs. Public Housing
Topic: Community Gardening vs. Public Housing
This past Friday, I reported on St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden and Labyrinth (412 Fairview Street, behind Bethel Baptist Church), whose members plan to request an extension on their lease from the Housing Authority of Chester County.
The lease expires on September 1, 2009, and the HACC is working on plans for affordable public housing in the Fairview Area. These plans could possibly involve building some of the housing on the garden's .84 acre site, which is owned by the HACC.
According to Vince Donahue, the HACC's solicitor, there is a dire need for affordable public housing in Chester County. Conversely, St. John's garden supplies fresh produce to local non-profits such as PACS and Cornerstone Clubhouse.
This Sunday I asked several locals what their thoughts were on the issue, and the response was almost overwhelmingly in support of the garden. One person commented that the HACC and the garden should work together, to share the space between the housing and the garden.
This seems in theory to be a no-brainer, and I definitely support that standpoint as well.
However, if it comes down to a choice and the two sides are unable to work out their differences, what do you support? Community gardening to help those in need? Or public housing for those who would otherwise be unable to afford a new home?
Also, Rev. Linda Gruber, Pastor of St. John's UCC, and Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator of the garden, encourage members of the community to show their support for the garden on December 18 at 4:30 p.m. at King Terrace at 300 High Street at the HACC's Board of Directors meeting. Gruber will present a proposal to the board to either extend the lease for the long-term, or donate the garden to the Borough or County for use as a public park. Members of the public can then each voice their opinion on the issue for one minute during public participation.
Interested to see your opinions on this issue, there were a lot of good ones on last week's story on the proposed passenger rail.
Later on,
Brian
Posted by
Brian Mccarthy
This past Friday, I reported on St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden and Labyrinth (412 Fairview Street, behind Bethel Baptist Church), whose members plan to request an extension on their lease from the Housing Authority of Chester County.
The lease expires on September 1, 2009, and the HACC is working on plans for affordable public housing in the Fairview Area. These plans could possibly involve building some of the housing on the garden's .84 acre site, which is owned by the HACC.
According to Vince Donahue, the HACC's solicitor, there is a dire need for affordable public housing in Chester County. Conversely, St. John's garden supplies fresh produce to local non-profits such as PACS and Cornerstone Clubhouse.
This Sunday I asked several locals what their thoughts were on the issue, and the response was almost overwhelmingly in support of the garden. One person commented that the HACC and the garden should work together, to share the space between the housing and the garden.
This seems in theory to be a no-brainer, and I definitely support that standpoint as well.
However, if it comes down to a choice and the two sides are unable to work out their differences, what do you support? Community gardening to help those in need? Or public housing for those who would otherwise be unable to afford a new home?
Also, Rev. Linda Gruber, Pastor of St. John's UCC, and Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator of the garden, encourage members of the community to show their support for the garden on December 18 at 4:30 p.m. at King Terrace at 300 High Street at the HACC's Board of Directors meeting. Gruber will present a proposal to the board to either extend the lease for the long-term, or donate the garden to the Borough or County for use as a public park. Members of the public can then each voice their opinion on the issue for one minute during public participation.
Interested to see your opinions on this issue, there were a lot of good ones on last week's story on the proposed passenger rail.
Later on,
Brian
Posted by
Brian Mccarthy
posted by The Phoenix Files at
1:55 PM
4 Comments:
It's a false dichotomy to frame this particular situation as "community gardening vs. public housing."
The current plan before HUD (the funder) is to build 10 townhouses where the community garden is now and then build another 16 townhouses right next to them afterwards.
Right off the bat, there are two problems with this scenerio.
First, HUD building plans must follow local zoning. According to current Borough zoning, a landowner must own 15 acres or more to put in 26 townhouses.
The Fairview property is, depending on which document you read, only 6 or 7 acres. This means that according to Phoenixville Borough zoning, no more than 12 (and perhaps only 10) townhouses can be built on this property.
The second problem is that most Housing Authorities across the US have abandoned the "high density" model of public housing in favor of a "dispersed housing" model.
In "dispersed housing" housing stock is purchased in a municipality on a "rent to own" basis so that there are no more than 1 public housing unit per neighborhood.
This model has shown great success becuase those tenants who want to make something of their lives get neighborhood support to do so, while those who engage in "unneighborly" behavoir are quickly dealt with by the authorities.
The real questions are:
Why is Phoenixville being asked to host an outdated public housing model that is no longer considered useful nation-wide?
and
Why is a successful (3 awards in 3 years, 10 years at the site)community garden being asked to leave when there is sufficient space for the 10 additional public housing townhouses allowed by local zoning and the community garden?
As someone who spent time on the east coast in some high density HUD homes the model being proposed will not be the best for all concerned, those in need of housing and the garden.
There MUST be a way to support the garden which is also badly needed and getting SOME HUD homes in the area.
HUD must be made to follow local law and to use thier more successful lower density models. PHX must hold out for better. Keep and support your garden and be a model for HUD to do something new!
Why are we also not asking one particular question? Why are we looking to build more public housing when there are current vacancies in the exisiting units? The answer is and continues to be, there is a $ to be made. In the immortal words of Irv Homer, follow the money trail!
I am also concerned by the way the title of this posting frames the situation as a choice between either a community garden or affordable housing. Are not both of these resources important components of improving the quality of life for all local residents? Doesn't this threaten to eliminate a positive social resource enjoyed and benefited by local residents of a wide range of income? Would the County similarly consider building these properties on park land? Isn't the garden functionally a form of public space - managed open space maintained for the benefit of all local residents?
Community gardens are not just about having an interesting hobby. All over the country, local gardens such as this provide social connections that reduce crime, improve social capital, connect people with their cultural heritage, promote tolerance and diversity, not to mention the obvious benefits of connecting residents with the process of food production and providing access to whole, raw food sources.
If you don't think that community gardens have anything to do with community development, just check out the work of the Food Trust, a nationally recognized powerhouse in advocating for access to fresh foods, especially for high-risk residents. Public health, food security and access to fresh foods can have significant impacts on people's health and well being (many endemic nutritionally-related diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are inextricably linked with access to quality foods) not to mention the social networking capacities of neighborhoods. And its based right here in the Philadelphia area. http://www.thefoodtrust.org/
Housing certainly is an important issue, but is this really the only site in Chester County available? Is there no one interested in making a useful and dynamic connection between the garden and potential low-income residents rather than removing one n favor of the other? If the situation is as desperate as claimed, 26 homes is not much of a long-term strategy. Where will other sites be located? Overall, I agree with the previous posters that affordable housing trends around the country have moved toward the creation of "mixed income" areas that combine homes for people at varying levels of income to make for healthier societies.
Perhaps the County needs to establish a more comprehensive affordable housing strategy that will build on the community resources that currently exist (like the community garden) rather than rob Peter to pay Paul. Community Land Trusts, mixed income developments, zoning that requires all new construction over a certain number of housing units include X percentage of affordable housing - these are all innovative and effective strategies applied elsewhere in the country that should be investigated before viable and positive local resources are removed.
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