Housing in Present Day Currently, I live with my parents and in on-campus housing. Due to my personal circumstances, this arrangement makes the most sense for my current financial situation, as I am making little income while taking classes. During the school year (September-December & February-May) I live in on-campus housing at St. Catherine eUniversity. In particular, I live in Stanton Hall, which cost $2,500 a semester with amenities included (St Catherine University, n.d.a.). This living situation is the most realistic circumstance for, as on-campus housing is affordable and has a flat rate by year, without long-term, binding contracts that may be associated with general rental housing. Outside of the school year, I have been choosing to live with my parents, up in Sauk Rapids, MN. As I possess few resources to to support myself financially, my most reasonable option is to utilize the only free options I have for housing, which means living at home. Luckily, the use of the combination of these two housing options enables me to avoid many of the common issues with alternate forms of living situations, particularly owning and off-campus housing. I am fortunate at the this time to not have to be concerned with government policies and politics that create barriers to affordable housing, especially rental housing. The most significant issue with rental housing, however, is the rising costs of rent (Schwartz, 2010). For many populations, the cost of renting a housing takes up a significant amount of their annual income, making saving and monetary flexibility near impossible. In some instances, this expense accounts for up to 30% of income (Downs, 2008). It is also significant that one of the populations that most generally ut... ... middle of paper ... ...m=10&StateID=29&RegionID=0&IsRegularPS=True&IsSold=False [408 2nd Avenue Exterior]. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from: http://www.cbburnet.com/ property/details/2137976/MLS-4467073/408-2nd-Avenue-NW-Buffalo-MN-55313.aspx?SearchID=9955259&RowNum=10&StateID=29&RegionID=0&IsRegularPS=True&IsSold=False [408 2nd Avenue Living Room]. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from: http:// www.cbburnet.com/property/details/2137976/MLS-4467073/408-2nd-Avenue-NW-Buffalo-MN-55313.aspx?SearchID=9955259&RowNum=10&StateID=29&RegionID=0&IsRegularPS=True&IsSold=False [625 Cleveland Avenue]. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from: http://www.trulia.com/rental- community/9000059424/625-Cleveland-Avenue-South-625-Cleveland-Ave-S-Saint-Paul-MN-55116/ [3653 21st Ave. S.]. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from: http://www.realtor.com/ realestateandhomes-detail/3653-21St-Ave-S_St-Cloud_MN_56301_M83281-42482?row=5
“How can a middle-class family afford a rent of $2,000 or even $2,800 when the family consists of four children and a single working parent. when food needs to be on the table every night and bills need to be paid. I find this ridiculous, no one ever wanted to live in Bushwick and now all of a sudden these people want to live here.” -
Although every one are employed, at least some of the time, any one may often find it difficult to save enough money for a deposit on a rental property. As a consequence, some minimum-wage workers end up in living situations that are actually more pricey than a month-to-month rental. For instance, some minimum-wage workers rent rooms in week-to-week motels. According to Ehrenreich, “Given a few days or weeks more to look, maybe I could have done better. But the meter is running at the rate of $59 a day for my digs at the 6, which are resembling a Ballard creation more every day.” (Ehrenreich, 57) In other words, Ehrenreich knows these motel rooms tend to cost a much more than a traditional rental, but are accessible to the minimum-wage workers since a large deposit is not a requirement. If a person is unable or unwilling to pay for a room in a motel, some might live in his or her car, in a homeless shelter, or even on the street. Or as Morgan and his fiancee Alex, who settled on a $325 dollars a month in a renovated crack den (literally) that allowed them to pay the deposit over a few months, only with $300 dollars in savings, this was their best option. Minimum-wage workers who cannot afford a stable home, but might be able to afford a car, or vise versa, cannot afford a car, but be able to afford a house, adopt
One of the most prominent concerns of Evicted is the issue of inescapable financial instability as it relates to eviction. In the very first few pages of the book, Desmond reveals that the majority of poor renting families in America spend over 50% of their income on housing, with an even more astonishing one in four spending over 70% of their income on it (4). When families are spending the majority of their already meager income on housing alone, it is no surprise that they have little money left for savings or self-betterment programs such as a college education. Compounded with this is the fact that some welfare systems are constructed in a way that discourages long-term financial responsibility. For example, Supplemental Security Income, a program that provides monthly stipends for low-income elderly or disabled individuals, is revoked if individuals have too much money in their bank account (217). For
Downs has sought to dispel myths surrounding housing policy. The first myth he debunks is the myth that all government-sponsored urban policies have failed. Downs believes that although they had resulted in greater hardships for poorer neighborhoods, the policies have given great benefits to a majority of urban American families. While he does not consider these policies to be a complete success, he refuses to call them failures due to the fact that they did indeed improve the standard of living for most of urban America. Downs also calls to our attention the effect of housing policies on the number of housing units. Starting in 1950, housing policies were aimed at ending the housing shortage until focus was shifted to low income households in the midst of the Vietnam War. To Downs, ending the shortage was important because it was affecting the American way of life. Couples were delaying marriage, extended families were living in one home, and overcrowded housing led to overcrowded local facilities, such as schools. Downs also argues that this overcrowding led to an inescapable cycle of “substandard”
As stated by Richard F. Burns and Thomas G. Vaccaro in Unaffordable Housing: A Root Cause of Social Inequality, 80% to 120% of area median income—also struggle to find affordable rental units in all 50 states. This lack of “workforce housing” results in their inability to live in or near the places where they work. Not being able to live near work if results in higher cost of living because you end up having to pay for either a car or, you could rely on public transportation or even have to pay forward gas money to another person. Housing also ties(“is also tied to”) to cost of living which turns out is very expensive. According to DePersio, Greg in "How Much Money Do You Need to Live in Los Angeles?, As of August 2015, the average rent in Los Angeles is $2,296 per month. Even if someone is only looking for a one-bedroom apartment, the average cost sits at approximately$1,950 per month. A two-bedroom apartment averages slightly over $2,500. So as one can see that they have to make at the very least $13 an hour just to pay rent, this does not even include food or utilities let alone if they have kids forget it. Because of unaffordable housing has left millions without homes making them fall under the category of
New York City is not only a tourist attraction, but considered one of the most expensive cities in the world to fund because of its superb security, overall popularity, and partly its dependence on Wall Street to pay high income taxes to fund social programs, such as those who help homeless individuals and low-income residents. Ever since Bloomberg's re-election in 2005 he warned New Yorker's that because of a gaping budget deficit the city may have to raise property tax and state tax. The only people who struggle the most from increasing taxes are those who are barely able to pay rent and other expenses, such as utilities bills. One of the reasons why increasing taxes affect individuals is because as property taxes rise the property owner has to spend more, which means his/her profits may be affected, thus increasing the rent of tenants (the most current increase was 4% in one-year leases and 7.25% in two-year leases). In the other hand residents that currently live in homeless shelters have fewer chances of finding an affordable apartment even if he/she obtains a job (Most of the jobs homeless shelters refuges receive are low-paying jobs).
As the lease of my apartment is coming to an end it had me thinking of achieving my own American Dream of home ownership but as I do my research I find the dream is far from coming true. I am sure that the issue of housing prices and rent rates are what most of us Bay Area residents talk about and debate. It is an issue that needs to be addressed by the officials of the area, city mayors, affordable housing committees, social justice activists,lawmakers, and even employers. Skyrocketing prices, low inventory, and investors’ bidding wars are not only pushing the middle and lower classes out of San Francisco and the Bay Area out but will completely eliminate them.
My best friend, Michael, and I were recently shopping around trying to determine where we were going to live starting in the fall next school year. We both spent this last semester on campus to fulfil Georgia Southern’s first-year requirement and both of us would be quick to agree that it definitely had its pros and cons. Before we started, we sat down and took a look at what on-campus and off-campus housing had to offer using a cost-to-benefit ratio. While living on-campus is great in the fact that you are able to walk to class faster, you are located closer to the meal hall, and you have the ability to go to the library without searching for a parking spot; due to the tolls it takes financially, socially, and personally in regards to schoolwork and grades, living on-campus is an issue that I feel is a huge factor in low grades. Off-campus housing, due to the wide variety to choose from, is capable of providing students with the freedom they need in order to be their own person, the ability to hide away in your room when it’s time to study or visit one of the many amenities provided by the community when they feel like being social, and they provide all of this at a mere fraction of the cost of on-campus housing even when factoring in utilities, food, and gas.
Compare and contrast the ways in which housing inequalities are discussed from the perspectives of social policy and criminology, and economics (TMA 02)
What is it about sex that makes everyone so uncomfortable? Upon reading Randa Jarrar’s A Map of Home, one of the major themes that the novel goes in depth about is Nidali’s sexual awakening. Many students would argue that this novel is littered with too much sexual activity, i.e. masturbation. However, A Map of Home is a novel about finding your place in this world; the search for your identity and purpose. Sexual identity plays a significant part of that continuum. You may question, “Well, could you have figure out a way to describe her story without all the sex stuff?” This statement would demolish the novel’s relatable and sheer honest tone, as well as disintegrate the genuineness behind the narrative if Jarrar would omit Nidali’s sexual experiences. The complete fact that young teenagers do think about sex so often makes one grasp the true relatability this novel showcases through the main character’s sexual experiences. In this essay, I plan to explore the importance of sexual awakening, Nidali’s own reasons for experimenting with her sexuality, and what we can ultimately learn from being open with what we want in that context.
“Home is where the heart is.” In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros develops this famous statement to depict what a “home” really represents. What is a home? Is it a house with four walls and a roof, the neighborhood of kids while growing up, or a unique Cleaver household where everything is perfect and no problems arise? According to Cisneros, we all have our own home with which we identify; however, we cannot always go back to the environment we once considered our dwelling place. The home, which is characterized by who we are, and determined by how we view ourselves, is what makes every individual unique. A home is a personality, a depiction of who we are inside and how we grow through our life experiences. In her personal, Cisneros depicts Esperanza Cordero’s coming-of-age through a series of vignettes about her family, neighborhood, and personalized dreams. Although the novel does not follow a traditional chronological pattern, a story emerges, nevertheless, of Esperanza’s search to discover the meaning of her life and her personal identity. The novel begins when the Cordero family moves into a new house, the first they have ever owned, on Mango Street in the Latino section of Chicago. Esperanza is disappointed by the “small and red” house “with tight steps in front and bricks crumbling in places” (5). It is not at all the dream-house her parents had always talked about, nor is it the house on a hill that Esperanza vows to one day own for herself. Despite its location in a rough neighborhood and difficult lifestyle, Mango Street is the place with which she identifies at this time in her life.
In the novel, The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros describes the problems that Latino women face in a society that treats them as second class citizens. A society that is dominated by men, and a society that values women for what they look like, and not for what is on inside. In her Novel Cisneros wants us to envision the obstacles that Latino women must face everyday in order to be treated equally.
A home, many people spent their whole life in search of his or her home. It has many different definitions to different people. To some people it may be their home country, to some it may be where they were born, to some it may be where their family is. home's most basic trait is its ability to provide shelter from weather. Rain or snow, a house will always be there to shield the elements from the family. In the cold times of the year, the heater will be there to warm the house. The heat of the summer is no problem for a good home. The ideal dwelling definitely must have a dependable central air conditioner. When located in an area abundant with tornadoes and hurricanes, a home must have a safe place. A storm shelter or a basement is an excellent place to hide. But to most people home has more meaning than just dwelling it should be a place where their family is, where they could have family times together.
“Home is where love resides, memories are created, friends always belong, and laughter never ends (Robot check).” A place becomes a home for me when I am around all the things that I enjoy and love. For example, when I am around everyone that I love, I enjoy a peaceful environment and the beautiful landscapes around me. The interpretation of home for me is not a physical thing that I see or that I can remember or even certain thoughts that I can relate, but it is a sensation that overcomes me when I envision being in the comfort of my own home. However, I know that this is a feeling that is calming to my soul and it quietly reassures me that I genuinely belong in a place where I can be free from people constantly judging me.
Throughout our lives on this planet, there are various places that we call home. For some people, home is where you grew up. For others it may be where most, if not all, of your family currently reside. For me, home is a small town called Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It may not be where I am originally from, but it is where I spent most of my adolescent years. Throughout the past few years, Carlisle has become a different place to me. It has grown and changed just as I have; however, in many ways, it is still the charming little town I remember,