Our Stories Pt 1 - Non Market Housing
What motivates members of our local conversation to take time out of their busy lives to advocate for a strong town?
We have stories.
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He’s Steve, but his friends call him Cookie, and his path to our local conversation was a chance meeting the Strong Towns Metro MKE table at Milwaukee’s Riverwest 24. But he found himself on the path to advocate for affordable housing a long time ago, and his cause is “Non Market housing.”
ST: Can you define the term?
C: Non Market housing, as the name suggests, is housing that has been removed from the housing market. It exists for the sole purpose of providing shelter, not to create passive income, nor will it be sold later for its equity cash value. It can be public housing, managed and maintained by a local or state government. Or it can be managed and maintained privately through an endowment or non-profit.
ST: What examples exist today that you might point to?
C: Non Market Housing is not a new idea and exists in many forms around the world. My favorite example is Venice, Italy, where they built a large apartment complex centuries ago. The rent is based on what it costs to repair and maintain the building, plus any taxes or fees. There are many different types of public housing, or housing assistance based on income. This idea is housing based on cost.
ST: Are you getting any traction?
C: Difficult to judge....[it involves] thinking outside the box of capitalism. Those who do are typically regarded as naive, lazy, or evil by those who cannot think outside that box. I do think more young people are starting to realize that capitalism and the market are not a solution to all problems, and more tools are needed in the socioeconomic tool box.
ST: What’s next?
C: I recently attended a presentation in which I realized that Non Market Housing combats gentrification by putting affordable dense housing in potentially any neighborhood. Also, having a sizable NMH stock gives those who need more support potentially greater independence, freeing their families from having to care for them and thus increasing generational wealth.
I'm currently looking for experts in finance, law, and real estate….we need someone who knows the Milwaukee real estate market, and having a friend in city development would be a huge bonus, [and] every endeavor needs a good lawyer. One of the ways I hope to get started: small apartment buildings and cottage courts. My plan is to use the equity that real estate accrues as leverage to acquire more housing. It would only require a seed endowment to grow the equity like a snowball.
ST: Thanks Cookie.
Housing is a fraught subject and an urgent problem. For most of us, it is simply understood that real estate is an appreciating asset – an investment – meaning there’s a built-in tendency to drive prices up. Which in turn leads to many being priced out. One way or another, some novel, untested ideas are required to make progress on the housing crunch.
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