Affordable Housing: Going Above and Beyond with New Innovations

As I looked through different housing projects on Affordable Housing Design Advisor, what really struck me was how this innovative thought process focused on creating better more livable and sustainable affordable housing really makes diverse living styles available to people that would otherwise not exist. It is not just that these projects make these experiences available to people with lower incomes; in reality they are creating new living experiences altogether. One facet of these communities that I saw exemplified in all the projects I looked at was an intense focus on community building and participation. 

In the Murphy Ranch project there are walkways that meander through the development, separate from vehicular traffic and allowing extensive access to all parts of the community. There are also office spaces, meeting rooms, community kitchens and more. I am betting that reason a lot of these amenities were put in place were not necessarily just to help strengthen the community, like the computer lab was probably put in place for families that do not have access to their own computer or wifi, but amenities like this bring people together and may lead to occupant run classes and tutoring and business and more. 

Another thing that I really enjoyed seeing was how these developments were designed first to fill a need of affordable housing, but without that label on them, you might just think that someone was designing this housing only to meet a goal of sustainability. Every project goes above and beyond with multitudes of “green features”. The Bridgeton Revitalization project boasts sustainable design aspects as deceptively simple as large windows and deep eaves (passive heating and cooling), and some more technical aspects like sustainable appliances and fixtures, and panelized construction. The Cobb Hill project has created yet another amazing community ideal. The community was designed to incorporate the agricultural landscape that surrounds it and aid in new organic farming ventures. What I really liked seeing in the project was how it restored preexisting farms, which included barns and farmhouses. They even included grey water collection and reuse into the design!: "Cobb Hill utilizes  70% less water than   Vermont standards require."

Words that I hate and will think less of you If you Use

Cohort
Synergy
Lexicon
Praxis
Symposium (hah.. ha.. haaaaaa)

Remember people: jargon is a never truly helpful for anyone involved.
and, yes, when you talk ceaselessly about your cohort you do indeed sound like a pompous ass.

Words from George Orwell himself:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. 
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. 
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. 
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. 
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. 
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
   

I never did like Animal Farm all that much... but this guy is starting to grow on me

Vicki Bennett, Mayor’s Symposium, and everything in between

It seems like all the women involved with sustainability and planning in our city are very empowered individuals. Women like Vicki Bennet, who works in our SLC Office of Sustainability (I believe she is the director actually),  show what it takes to become successful and effective in work concerning the future health and function of our city, especially as a woman. I think, from what I have seen, that it must take a lot of chutzpah, a good understanding of reality, kindness, and a strong piercing gaze. I really enjoyed the way that our class was able to interact with Vicki. Instead of having a planned speech, students were able to just ask questions and we ended up having a conversation and a relaxed and open experience. This is good. The only thing that I wish could have been different was the amount of pussyfooting that took place, and that always takes place in conversations like these.

It comes from no person in particular, but there is always a sense of wariness as everyone tries to figure out just how forward thinking and pragmatic one can be in each particular conversation. We all know that when talking about global warming and becoming more green minded in this city, you have to be careful because more often than not there are a lot of people ready to become very disagreeable at the first sign of this “hippy environmentalist crap.”  Unfortunately, we seem to take this wariness with us even when surrounded by likeminded people and it takes awhile for this sense of unease to wear off. Usually it is not until the end of these encounters that people start asking the hard questions and giving good, strong, tough answers.

I went the the Mayor’s Symposium on Green and Blue planning yesterday and I witnessed this phenomena take place there. It wasn’t until the end when everyone had gotten the feel of the land that we started to hear people really question each other and really talk about what is going on in the community that gathers for these type of things: That is, planning, sustainability, and generally environmentally concerned individuals, and government type people who may fall under any of the preceding categories. What It finally cam down to was the idea that we haven’t yet got a plan for how to move forward in this city, and we don’t know if this progress needs to be made with swift large spontaneous action, or slower more gentle leading and community involvement. These two things aren’t mutually exclusive and there should probably ultimately be a combination of both things taking place. Every planning and or sustainable conversation that I have been a part of has culminated with some form of this one dilemma always sneaking its way to the forefront (as well as a gaggle of others).

Our conversation with Ms. Bennet or Vicki, I am not sure what she goes by, did also meet this dilemma because honestly there are very few questions that can be asked of her that won’t have a semi ambiguous answer unless one establishes whether we are to act boldly (and a little bit illegally) with great swaths of change or take those smaller leading steps (which in my mind may not be fast enough). Oh, BUT, I did come away from this meeting having been thoroughly convinced that Vicki should be our new mayor because when it comes down to it she really didn't tiptoe around issues all that much and when asked a good solid question gave a good solid answer. Also, she did say something along the lines of—> Lets get rid of Rocky Mountain Power and pay the real price for the energy we consume HURRAH.