Affordable Housing for Families

by nobody Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014 at 8:06 AM

A little idea for improving education.

There's so much talk about education and charter schools lately, but I haven't heard a single peep about something that affects so many poor and working class children in the inner city and even the suburbs: crowded homes.

With the rise of increased homework, it's more important than ever that children have enough space at home to study, and enough quiet time to concentrate. Yet, all over the city, entire families are living in one bedroom apartments. Even the more spacious two bedroom apartment, the standard of the four or five-person household, can be very cramped once the kids are hitting the tweens.

What's needed is more affordable housing built, specifically for families with school-age children, where their residency depends on having children in school. Families must be guaranteed at least a two-bedroom apartment if they have one to two children, and possibly a three bedroom if they have three or more children. The rooms need not be spacious - just with a door so they can be made quiet.

Also, by affordable housing, I mean a kind of public housing. Public housing would be great, but if the political will doesn't exist for that, paying a nonprofit to develop affordable housing is the next best thing.

This isn't a movement. It's not an initiative. It's just an idea.

Original: Affordable Housing for Families