Housing Complexity

'You ought to write a book!' We have all heard that statement or read it hundreds of times. I understand why people say it. Pretty simple, really: a topic is so complex and tangled that it will take a long explanation to understand what happened and why.

These days we could write a book about a lot of topics. Unemployment and long years of underemployment that follow. Career changes that seemingly don’t make sense but income is needed to pay bills and support families. So we do things we normally wouldn't, take jobs we normally wouldn't, and slug along in jobs and routines we definitely don’t want.

Some days we awake to the question: “How did I get here?” and the equally numbing question: “How do I get from here to where I want to be?”

That’s when a book might be needed to not only understand the how and why, but also how delicately the needle needs to be thread if we are to turn a corner toward happiness.

How does the economy work? That’s a knotty question that requires books to understand. Which economy are you talking about? The one in your household? Or the one at work? Or the city’s, the state’s or the nation? What about the global economy as long as we are talking of these things!~

Well to cover these areas a lot of books carefully selected as to the exact identity of each economy to be addressed is needed. There is no other way. The matters are simply too complex. That doesn't stop shallow people from making erroneous conclusions and statements. You know them well on newscasts, from newspapers and magazines, even from books! They make statements that do not agree with economic theory and process. Political hay is made from this. Much confusion follows.  Yes; it will take books and patience and research and careful study to understand what is true and what is not.

Meantime fools make a mess of the public’s understanding of these issues. It’s a real shame.

So too are other topics messy.  Housing is one. An open market rules much of housing options each of us make. But the market is multiple – many different markets, and each with their own circumstances, dynamics and market pressures. Then government regulations are tossed in to make those markets even more complicated.

Trouble is there are people getting hurt in those markets. Perfectly normal people – young and old, families and singles, women and men, rich and poor, handicapped and well-bodied – oh the list of differences goes on and on.

Perhaps it would help to understand some of these housing topics by peering into how most of us acquire housing, sort of like HGTV’s House Hunters program! We watch the experience of countless people buying their homes, for the first time, for vacation homes, for retirement purposes, both domestic and international purchases…and even rentals. These video snippets help us understand the complexities of finding housing options that fit each person. Some of the complexity surrounds the issue of need versus want, affordability, conditions, locations and family mobility.

As people’s lives shift and change from one phase to another – early adult single seeking first apartment or home, young married seeking first home with growth potential to house a growing family, empty-nesters seeking downsized spaces, elders seeking retirement homes – each of these life phases contain challenges to be managed. And planned for. And disasters unplanned but readily implanted in unsuspecting lives.

Each of these circumstances makes finding the proper home more complex. With ample money many of these problems disappear. The process remains filled with options to be decided, but still not a challenge of do-ability. Money makes many of these problems dissolve.

But for those with budget problems, the housing process becomes challenging.

We are in the elder phase of life. We have health issues to manage. They are manageable but they pose expense concerns, narrower housing options (one-floor living, avoidance of stairs, altitude restrictions). Then too, elder housing needs to be convenient to medical services, shopping, transportation and other public services. The social environment is also an ingredient to the mix of options to consider. As well is this usually muted question: what about final housing options? Will this be our last home? Will we be able to move easily to assisted living, hospice care and the funeral home with as little difficulty as possible?

What range of housing options exist for our aging population? How many of those options are readily available in your community? Are there apartments designed for aging occupants? Are there buildings with mobility standards included in their design? What about affordable options for elders living on fixed incomes, those who have shattered retirement budgets, people ravaged by failing economies and health at the same time? What about those who planned but not well enough? Or those who planned well but were waylaid by circumstances unforeseen?

Finally, what responsibility, if any, does a community have to ensure such options exist within their borders?

I have asked these questions of my community for several years. Most people are totally unaware of these questions. They prefer to ignore them. They prefer someone else think of them and plan for them. They don’t get the connection between themselves and their community. And the long term health of the community based on this type of questions.

Well I suggest we all start paying attention. Here’s why: if we don’t plan sensibly for housing options for each of our population segments, we surely will exclude those people from our lives at a time we ought not to.

Here’s an example of what I mean: 14 to 15% of our population are people 65 years of age and older. What do these folks mean to our communities? If they were excluded from our midst, what would we be missing?

For one we would miss their volunteer hours and time. Working citizens don’t have the schedule freedom to support countless projects, church programs and charities in our town. So retired people fill this important role.

Senior citizens also have lifetime experience in many arenas. They are available to share those experiences with younger people as we manage the life of the community. This goes to the heart of our democratic process as well, making public policies, and enriching the ideas included in that process.

Senior citizens represent generational enrichment. Lacking a fair representation of them in our population cheats our kids and ourselves of their influence in our lives.

This list could go on. And it does.

We exclude people from our lives at a cost to our quality of life. It is right and proper to include people of all ages in our midst so we do not create artificial ghettos of aging people, or young people, in our communities.

That would be a shame. So now, do we need a book written to understand this issue? Or can we dispense with that and get down to solving some problems that will grow ever large as our society ages and our housing markets fail to keep up?

Something to think about.  But when will we?

October 29, 2013