Construction Informer

In a new twist on ways to spur home building the government of Alberta, Canada is putting $6 million into Habitat for Humanity housing. That money will build 67 homes that the new homeowners will pay for through mortgage payments. Their payments then go on to fund the construction of more homes.

But Alberta has a larger agenda in mind when it comes to affordable housing. The province wants to eliminate homelessness – well at least some of its politicians want to eliminate homelessness. Through 2012 the government has promised to build 11,000 affordable housing units at an anticipated cost of $3.3 billion.

But if you read the comments to one of the stories on this topic you see there is not really much sympathy for the homeless people there. One writer even suggested the plan would cause the homeless from other provinces to move to Alberta, and another thought the plan was just a way for politicians to move money to their cronies who own apartment buildings. Some were even more strident writing things like:

Great. $3.3 Billion to help unproductive people at the margins of society stay that way. Here’s an idea, how about helping the people who actually want to be a positive part of society first?

A number of years ago a builder in Albuquerque, NM came up with the idea of building some six-foot long crates, lining them with insulation and making them available to homeless people as an alternative to sleeping in parks and streets. Of course he was flamed out of existence by those who thought “dog houses” for people were just unacceptable.