|
||||
 |
|
|
 |
Our Development PhilosophyWe develop housing that has as its core values: The unique needs of individuals as the basis of design Decisions about how to produce housing should not be based solely on factors like market opportunities, how to fit buildings on a site or the kind of financing available. Instead, designing housing should start with the needs of the people for whom it is being developed, taking into account how the housing can help them live better, more successful lives. When we talk about "design" of housing, we mean where it's located, what it looks like and how it works physically, how it's built, the way we finance it and what happens to it after it's built. Empowering people Lower-income people not only have less money; they have less power. For a multitude of reasons, they are less able to influence the community around them and less able to change their own lives. When we design housing, we don't simply accept people's poverty as a "given" and provide housing they can afford. Instead, we try to design housing that empowers people, housing that helps them change their lives for the better. We think creatively about housing as a place that connects people to other resources that help them improve their lives, such as child care, transportation, job training and educational opportunities. Integrating people into their community Lower-income people are often isolated from the community around them both physically and psychologically. They may have fewer friends or associates to offer them advice and support or to make them aware of opportunities. They may lack some of the knowledge and skills needed to enter the mainstream of society. And to the extent that they are separated from the rest of the community, they can be viewed as somehow "different," less worthy of notice. We design housing deliberately to re-connect people with the community around them, through the way it looks and where it is located and usually by including housing for a range of incomes. Beyond that, we seek ways to use housing as a place to offer services that its residents need to participate as valued members of the community. Helping people build assets Building assets is one of the central values of our culture. Earning enough money to cover expenses and still have something left over is the key to financial security and opportunity. People whose incomes are so low that they have nothing left over can never get ahead. And when housing costs so much that it consumes a large proportion of people's income, it helps keep them poor instead of offering the opportunity for a better life. That's another way in which lower-income people are dis-empowered. We try to design housing that offers residents a way to share in the value it represents. Home ownership is the most common way to make that happen, and we pursue projects that offer home ownership opportunities for people with lower incomes. But we also pursue rental housing designs that create opportunities for residents to build assets, through lease-purchase or other arrangements. Enhancing people's control over their own lives In our society, money means independence. People with limited incomes are able to make fewer decisions for themselves. More of the decisions about where and how they live are made by other people. One way to enhance people's control over their own lives is to design housing for which they are responsible and in which they can make decisions about what it costs and how it works. Again, individual ownership is one way to enable people with lower incomes to control their housing. Ownership by a group of people, through a housing cooperative or mutual housing association, is another way. Management of housing by a management corporation accountable to the residents is yet another option. In designing projects we always think about how the finished housing will "work" when the construction aspect of the work is completed. Even if project residents will have no share in ownership or formal control, we involve prospective residents in project design. This process informs our design decisions. More important, it demonstrates to prospective residents that their ideas have value, which builds their confidence and personal power. Housing we develop: Creates value Value really means getting the most for our money. Spending too much for housing -- for any of us -- isn't creating value. It's just spending more money. To help as many people as we can, we must use resources wisely. That means not only spending less, but also figuring out how to create the best housing value for the money. It means building housing smarter, not cheaper. To produce housing that enables people to build assets, we must be sure the cost of living in the housing is as low as possible. We are committed to energy efficiency, but beyond that we are committed to producing housing that lasts, housing that can be repaired, upgraded or expanded more easily and less expensively. Protects the environment Our commitment to energy efficiency is one way to protect the environment, but it's not the only way. We also seek to follow "green" housing practices. "Green" building can mean using recycled materials, using materials produced in ways that minimize damage to the environment, or using design and construction techniques that minimize waste. We are also committed to "smart growth," which protects the environment through land use planning and development practices that avoid sprawl, make the most efficient use of infrastructure and don't build on ecologically sensitive land. Meets the test of the market The Partnership is a tax-exempt, public purpose corporation, but we develop housing as a business enterprise. We use subsidy funds to lower the cost of the housing to the residents, but we earn our income as developers only if we produce housing. The money we invest in development projects is money that we have earned and saved, or money that other investors have made available. Because developing housing is a business that involves risk, we expect to earn a return on our investment that both compensates us for the risk and allows us to reinvest in other projects. Relying on earned income to generate working capital means not only that we operate within the discipline of a market environment, but also that we have the independence that comes with using your own money. The following are links to our How We Work pages.
|
