Post details: A2 Doesn’t Really Want Us
A2 Doesn’t Really Want Us
An article in the Sunday Ann Arbor News about the green belt proposal quotes one resident as saying, "The tension is I would hate to think my town is an enclave for just people who make a lot of money," said Susan Pollay, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority. "We like the diversity. We like having a lot of people that don't look like us. We see our houses rise in value. We personally are benefiting from this. And the worry is this town may not be the same town we all moved to."
The truth is that Ann Arbor property owners like rich people of all colors. Those of us without the funds to live within the green belt are welcome to visit, as long as we ride the bus into town and stop making noise at 10.
Ann Arbor is following the Baghdad model of development: The wealthy reside in the inner circle while the average man lives outside the wall. This is clearly expressed in the Ann Arbor News article by the mayor of Ann Arbor. “(Hieftje) said once surrounding townships know green space is being preserved, they'd be willing to allow higher-density development.”
According to the News, “Hieftje wants to attract more young professionals to live downtown in homes as inexpensive as $230,000”. Hieftje is completely out of touch. According to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments website, the median household income in the Ann Arbor Community was $46,299 in 2000. To qualify for a mortgage for the “bargain” houses, the household income required exceeds $100,000/yr.
For the other 82 percent of young professionals with household incomes under $100,000 annually, Hieftje wants to turn the First and Washington parking structure “into a mix of market-rate and work-force housing”. I can only assume that “market rate” means “2 Bedroom, Unfurnished $875”.
Ann Arbor can say they want young people to move in, but complete lack of affordable housing for purchase, high rents and policing policies that target the young tell me another story.
