Quote:
Originally Posted by The Slim Reaper
This is what we should be aiming for. Make social housing that isn't just about stacking poor people on top of each other in the grimmest buildings imaginable.
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I have mixed feelings about this. Obviously, Britain's crumbling tower blocks are far worse but despite how outwardly nice these places look, they do
kind of evoke thoughts of "projects" and inevitable ghettoisation - the IDEA of the Glasgow tower blocks, for example, were that they'd be modern/community-based replacements for old tenement flats that were mostly populated by industrial workers. They do have the play parks, the football pitches, basketball courts... but fast forward a few decades and you wouldn't want to play on one unless you're particularly keen on ending up in hospital with an injury from broken glass (or maybe a nice needlestick injury).
The irony is that those aforementioned old high-ceiling tenement flats are now in gentrified areas, fully renovated and selling to city professionals for £400k
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Basically I think it ends up presenting a massive social mobility issue and also limits choice - flats, and for that matter, the larger towns and cities that those flats are in, are not for everyone and with the UK govts being what they are, I can see them simply herding everyone on a low income (which will be a larger and larger percentage of the population) into said projects whether they want to be there or not -- that will be the offer. If you need social housing, it's in one of these, and you'll need to relocate.
Sooo... yeah. My thoughts are essentially that
- IF we're going to have people in subsidised flats then yes they should be as nice as possible for as long as possible
- I think the UK has social issues that mean it's unlikely they'll stay nice for very long
- They're probably better for individuals and couples. At the core of it, I don't think young families should be stacked in flats of any description. Families need a house, a garden, and a neighbourhood with other families with houses and gardens.
There used to be a lot more of that of course, until they were all sold off cheap to the occupiers to start renting out for 4x their mortgage.