Dear Editor:
Juan Mullerat nails it (Opinion: Tallahassee Delivers a One-Size-Fits All Solution).
“One size fits all” doesn’t work for shoes or for housing. While we have a housing crisis of affordability (beware the meaningless term “affordable housing”), it’s a complex crisis with multiple solutions that need to be tailored to each neighborhood and its residents’ needs, with more affluent neighborhoods participating as well. Mullerat gives lots of examples.
The main point is that not everyone can or wants to live in high-rise apartment buildings that may be OK for young singles or couples but not for families. You need a varied mix of housing and accessible community stores, parks, schools and public transportation to create a vibrant neighborhood. Just read Jane Jacobs’ seminal treatise “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” to be convinced.
So why did the State Senate with SB 102 make the Live Local Act its solution to the housing crisis? Because, in the short term, you can create the most “living units” the cheapest and quickest according to the big developers and their lobbyists. While this may be true, the long-term hidden cost imposed on established neighborhoods and their quality of life may end up leaving everyone asking “why did we do this?” just as Chicago finally did with Cabrini Green decades ago (look it up).
As brilliant as Mullerat’s analysis is, even he has no answer for cars. We love our cars, and they are the main obstacle to solving this housing crisis. Mullerat states “parking should be optional, not mandatory” but in a sprawling Miami-Dade County with very limited public transportation, having an automobile is mandatory, and cars require parking. But the more you accommodate cars, the more of them you get.
Flexible creativity will be the key: “SB 102 should require parking exemptions, at least in all TOD (transit-oriented development) areas within half a mile, allowing the market to determine parking needs and compelling cities to invest in alternative mobility solutions.”
Bravo to the Spotlight for covering this topic.
Andy Parrish
Coconut Grove
