Affordable Housing, Role Playing Games, Legal Wranglings, Inspiration, Tragedy, and Everything Since Friday

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Yeah, apparently I’m skipping Friday updates more often than not. I should stop that. Actually stick to my own schedule.

One of the big topics that ended up being discussed today in the stream was the whole rich/poor divide and the idea of affordable housing… spawned by an article about a new building in NYC that’s going to have a separate entrance for it’s less privileged residents (who they agreed to take in so they could get a tax break, mind you).

The topic of “affordable housing” comes up frequently here in Maryland. Particular in Silver Spring. The issue is a little different than it is in places like NYC.

Here we have the problem of people building a lot of expensive housing that is then bought/rented by people who mostly work and play in DC. This leaves people who work in Silver Spring (which has a wide diversity of jobs and pay rates) unable to afford to live there (in some cases), pushing them farther out where public transportation is less viable, leading to a bit of a traffic problem and a bit of a parking problem (which leads to all sorts of other problems… like local businesses being able to do solid business because people can’t get to/part at them easily or actual residents not being able to find parking/get around easily during the day).

A number of members of the community here are very interested in trying to build and maintain an actual community. One that’s vibrant at all times during the day…. not just during rush hour. What’s been in place has been slowly slipping away as development has boomed and busted a few times. (Most of what’s being built are one or two bedroom apartments/condos… not conducive to people with families, encouraging more transient people who go elsewhere to put down actual roots.)

It’s an interesting situation. A problematic one. And one I know I haven’t come up with a good solution to (mainly because I’ve got some very mixed feelings about all the affordable housing solutions I have seen–some of which were laid out in the article that Nancy shared–but some of those concerns are at odds with my desire to have poor people actually treated as people, since I’ve seen that be one of the best ways to help someone get back on their feet).

Needless to say, a number of people disagree with me on a lot of those points.

I’m okay with that.

Like I said, I don’t have an answer, so the discussion obviously needs to keep going on somewhere.

Here’s the extra long feed (which contains a few interesting discussions or starting points, so you should check it out)…

Tell His Mom, Conspiracy Closure, Environmental Pope, Helium, Slow-mo Nature, and Raccoons

This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Not too long after I got home form work on Friday, I turned right back around and went out. Then didn’t come back until nearly sunrise.

The only Memorial Day type thing I did this past long weekend was that barbecue on Friday night. Saturday and Monday were spent mostly just zoning out, letting my subconscious decompress and work through everything it’s been tasked with dealing with while I keep on keeping on with some semblance of a normal life.

The big break between bouts of couch sitting was to hit Spellbound for the first time since August. I used to be there every weekend. I should probably start going there more often, but without a car, I’m at the mercy of public transportation and feel trapped. No quick and definitive way to make an exit if I need to, no opportunity to stay out late and grab crepes with people down the street if I want to. I used to metro there all the time… then I got spoiled (and got used to numerous other aspects of going out there).

But, on Saturday night, I closed the place down, lasing a bit after most of the other people I knew had left.

And then it was back to the couch and A/C in the apartment. A setup that is much more indicative of how the rest of my life will likely be at this point.

Can’t really complain about the weekend. Kind of dreading how crazy tomorrow at work may be. But looking forward to the local premiere of a film a bunch of people I know made (and I chipped in to help pay for) after work tomorrow.

Anyway… here’s a long list off the feed going back to Friday morning.