PLATFORM : Housing as Inspiration

If you eliminate Nickerson Gardens completely and start from scratch, you could replace the project with nicer units and up-to-date construction for much less than the $111 million proposed for privatization.

The government should not be in the business of perpetuating ghettos and encouraging people such as welfare recipients and single mothers to live together in one place. Therefore, if the government wishes to spend money to assist these residents, it should begin by relocating the tenants to projects where both blue- and white-collar workers live together. Only a percentage of a project would be relinquished to low-income and welfare tenants, perhaps 10% to 15%, with the maximum being 20%.

By relocating residents to mixed projects, they would see daily examples of the average American worker and they would be inspired, whereas the privatization of Nickerson Gardens would still leave these tenants surrounded by poverty-stricken conditions.