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Affordable Housing

Nowhere is the disparity and inequity of access to green space more evident than in urban housing. Compact cities need safer and more affordable housing units close to city centers, so that their residents have easy access not only to the quality-of-life amenities that enrich urban life, but also to parks offering opportunities for time outside the home and outdoor recreation. Affordable housing also needs to be attractive so residents can connect with their homes and commit to their upkeep.

Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit that works admirably to build affordable housing for low-income families. When I started working for Habitat for Humanity in 1997, folks in the neighborhoods I volunteered in were tired of the unattractive two- and three-­family homes that Habitat had been building. The volunteer-driven organization had done its best to secure experienced contractors, plumbers, and electricians, but the team was waning—working with the poor design of these buildings was uninspiring and draining. At the dedication of two new Habitat homes on Quincy Street in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, Charlotte Golar Richie, then a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, pulled me aside. She said that while the families getting the homes were poor and in desperate need of housing, they deserved better. She said the bar on design needed to be raised, and she was right. There was a host of things Habitat needed to do to make their homes more attractive, and they could make them more environmentally friendly in the process.