Don’t repreat housing history

With all the talk that has been going on lately about a lack of housing for low-income people, I think it is fair to bring up a bit of history, and let’s not sugarcoat it. Bridgeport, at one time, had a large supply of housing available to those who could not afford to pay market prices. For example there was Marina Village, Father Panik Village, Beardsley Terrace, to name a few. What happened to those places? As I recall, from speaking to some early residents, they started out as decent places to live. Then they were allowed to fall into disrepair, and also were allowed to become hotbeds of crime. Things got so bad that they were eventually demolished. What a terrible waste of taxpayers’ money!

Have we learned anything from this? I would have thought that if you provided folks that were having a problem with expenses with a decent place to live at low (or sometimes no) cost, that they would appreciate it, and hopefully go out of their way to keep it in good condition. Apparently it didn’t work that way. And, regarding crime, I can’t believe that there is no way to control it if we eliminate the soft liberal approach when dealing with criminals. Lock them up and keep them there.

If we need housing for people who cannot afford conventional solutions, building high-density units in appropriate locations would be an economical answer. Then we must insist that those same people accept some responsibility for maintaining their places to prevent disrepair, and register a complaint when they have any knowledge of criminal activity in the area. And the rest of us must follow through when they do complain, so that history doesn’t repeat itself.