Tony, I think you might agree that we all view the world through our own lens of experience. In a neighborhood (not the only one) where, I would submit, folks are often valued based on their status of ³renter² vs. ³homeowner,² it is not too unreasonable that, in that environment, a nonhomeowning tenant, or one who identifies with nonhomeowning tenants, might perceive your inquiry as a value judgment.
My husband and I bought our house after we had lived here for four years, in the same apartment (i.e., we weren¹t what you could call transient.) After two or three years of shopping, we ended up buying a house three blocks from where we had rented for four years. I remember an individual who might be characterized as an upper-middle-class educated white homeowner ³welcoming² me to ³the neighborhood.² Frankly, I was offended. I had lived here for four years as a ³mere renter,² had been a member of a neighborhood church, had participated in civic activities, and none of those four years had been as a transient student. But the bias that was so evident in this exchange, was that one is not acknowledged as a valuable member of this community unless one is a homeowner. So, I can completely understand why Frank or anyone else might get their back up about renter vs. homeowner characterizations. I don¹t like the idea that transient student populations have a significant say in our neighborhood decisions. They¹re here for a bit, then gone. But, not all renters are students, nor are all renters transient. I say this as a homeowner on a block dominated by rental units. I yearn for permanent, or at least long-term, neighbors. But my closest long-term homeowner neighbor is a sociopath or psychopath or something (I don¹t know, I never took much psychology.) I¹m a legal services foreclosure defense attorney, but I keep hoping someone will foreclose on him, because I think only that or death or jail are going to make him go away (I was hoping he¹d be tempted by all the realtor ads to sell our houses we get, but apparently those didn¹t work either.) I¹m not saying this to beat on my neighbor just to make the point that homeowners aren¹t necessarily the be all and end all. Hell, if he was a renter, I might have a sane landlord to complain to. But I digress. The tensions in this neighborhood between tenants and homeowners is longstanding. I know from my own experience. But, I never understood how deep it is until recently. I doubt I could find it if I tried, but I think Ray or Glenn or Wilma could. I didn¹t understand why Glenn kept referring to civic associations as ³homeowner¹s clubs.² I mean, I did, because that¹s the way they tend to behave. But like I said particularly given my urban community organizing background, I had never until recently encountered an organization that explicitly defined itself as being for ³homeowners.² But, somewhere in this thread, I saw a reference by SHCA to itself as an organization for homeowners. Frankly, I was shocked. It¹s one thing to behave that way de facto. It¹s another to admit it de jure. Before you or anyone ever criticizes anyone for failing to be a ³proper² ³legitimate² member of this community, I want to say one thing. I am not a member of any civic organization in this neighborhood, because I have never trusted any civic organization in this neighborhood to represent me properly or adequately. The only organizations I trusted were Calvary and PIA, and both of those went away over time. I was appalled to read whatever I read about SHCA that defined it as an organization for homeowners. But I think that I would actually give SHCA credit for honesty for speaking what others don¹t admit to. <sigh> What does all of this have to do with anything? I¹m not sure, except that it¹s not unreasonable that renters/tenants might feel marginalized/offended/etc. by your post. It¹s not an entirely unreasonable objection. Why does it matter? I can see a student vs. non student distinction. Students mostly view themselves as here temporarily, they aren¹t invested and don¹t venture very far west. But, even here, not all renters are students. Some just live here. Kimm On 2/19/08 10:19 PM, "Anthony West" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Then you don't interpret them correctly, Frank. I asked a simple > question of fact: to what extent do renters and owners have equal > standing in zoning law? I don't know. It surely seems relevant to the > issue to ask this question. Why is it "hateful" to want to know a useful > answer? > > -- Tony West > >> > Nope. That's exactly how I interpret his words. Otherwise I fail to >> > see how the analogy, wrong-headed as it is, applies to the current >> > discussion. It's a stretch even then. >> > >> > Frank >> > >> > >>> >> Frank wrote: >>>> >>> They compare the people at last weeks meeting with a bus full of >>>> >>> strangers from Pittsburgh and ask for legal precedents for >>>> >>> marginalizing renters and students. It's hateful, arrogant behavior. >>> >> Ladies and gentlemen, here Frank displays his own deep and severe >>> >> dishonesty. He's lying. >>> >> >>> >> Here is what was posted, by Tony West, on that list: >>> >> >>> >> "This is one question that gnaws at me. I don't know the answer, >>> >> Mike, but there must be an answer in code or case law somewhere: how >>> >> close to a given zoning variance do you have to live -- or own >>> >> property -- in order to have a voice in the "public input" part of a >>> >> zoning hearing? (As a side question -- does zoning law draw a >>> >> distinction between owners and renters?) > > > ---- > You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the > list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see > <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
