Nice idea, for someplace
“The MacDonald boys playing golf,’’ attributed to William Mosman, 18th Century, at National Galleries of Scotland.
Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
To no one’s surprise, the Westerly (R.I) Planning Board, now backed by a state court decision, rejected Winn Properties’ proposal to create a 2,300-unit housing project to replace the well-known 18-hole Winnapaug Country Club; some 30 percent are supposed to fall under that oft-nebulous term “affordable’’.
Of course, most Westerly folks back the idea of affordable housing – somewhere. But the proposed project would be mighty big for the town of about 23,000, which has a lot of rich people, many of them seasonal and most near or along water, as is the golf course. The richest are in the Watch Hill section. And rich people generally don’t want poorer, let alone truly poor, people near them. Further, they pay big piles of property taxes, drawing the affectionate attention of local officials.
One reason that foes presented for opposing the project was fear of pollution into Winnapaug Pond. But most golf courses, for all their verdant beauty, are sources of much pollution from fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.
In any event, I wouldn’t be surprised if the golf course eventually becomes a development of McMansions and/or some big resort spa. Maybe with a nine-hole course to aid marketing.
Find another place, please
Sunrise in Cape Elizabeth
— Photo by Erin McDaniel (Erinmcd)
Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee’s administration has just approved spending nearly $31 million in state funds for 23 affordable-housing projects, for a total of 600 units in 13 cities and towns. Sounds nice, but I wonder how this will play out in certain localities, some of which have many poor people and some with quite a few wealthy ones.
It's often close to impossible to put affordable housing in an affluent town. For example, I just came across a Portland Press Herald story of how foes of a project called Dunham Court, in toney Cape Elizabeth, Maine, have killed the project, which was to include a 46-unit apartment building near Cape Elizabeth’s town hall and within walking distance of a supermarket, pharmacy, public schools, community center, police and fire station and the Thomas Memorial Library. The proximity to these services would have decreased the need for the low-income renters to take on the expense of cars. Oh, well.
Affordable housing is scarce in Greater Portland, as it is in many places. Well-off people don’t want poorer people near them. This is part of the reason for “snob zoning,’’ which includes such things as high minimum acreage requirements. Of course, this limits the construction of new housing, which raises prices and makes housing even less affordable for moderate and low-income people.
To read about the Rhode Island plan, please hit this link.
To read about the Dunham Court collapse, please hit this link.