Public/Self-Help Housing
While I would not quarrel with what you say about public housing in New York, there is also a crisis with respect to single family homes, in fact, in the epicenter of the sub-prime mess. Habitat for Humanity, using what might be called 18th century Amish barn raising technologies has provided some homes, built by volunteers for those who qualify. This is, however, a drop in the bucket!
America was once known for its self-help, can-do attitude.
Professional builders might not like it, but the US Forest Service has developed a very simple Frame Truss technology which enables several people to"dry-in" a 1,200 sq. ft home in about a week. Coupled with a"temporary final" from a city or country, this would enable a couple or family to move in and complete the house for about the total price of a mid-size car.
The Marina-Huerta Educ. Foundation built a community center in Guatemala recently employing this technology and using several women.
We now have a plan pending with the VA to help homeless veterans, one of the real scandals of America's wars from Vietnam to the Middle East and South Asia. We are now redoing our web site to include that information, but a CAD and some plans are already there: www.m-hfoundation.org Some cities are beginning to think about housing as a way to retain good teachers, firemen, etc. We believe this technology is the best way to achieve that goal in such a way that the home owners gain a tremendous incentive and financial advantage by having done the work themselves.'