do more than two projects a year with 100 units each because there is so much competition for the credits.” Still, over a decade that could make a substantial difference and help break down the reluctance of many towns to welcome low-income families. It’s been several years since Crerand Commons, 48 townhouses for low-income families, opened in Gates, and Supervisor Mark Assini says he would welcome additional units. Assini says he supports efforts to end the concentration of poverty. He says he has always believed “in pulling yourself up by your bootstraps,” but that individual initiative is not enough to lift families who have been trapped in poverty for generations. The Crerand Commons families moved from the city for a better life and better schools, Assini says. Assini says that he’s taken some heat for his views on poverty, but that he isn’t bothered by it. “I am a Republican, but I’m also a Catholic,” he says, referring to the church’s historic commitment to justice for the poor. Incentive zoning (granting a special permit or zoning variance in exchange for a builder’s commitment to add a certain number of affordable housing units) is a tried and tested tool that has largely been used to leverage senior housing, but it could be used to build family units as well. A third idea, Mitchell says, is to create a private fund that would provide a rent subsidy — say, $300 a month — that lowincome families could use to supplement their own resources to rent an apartment of their own choosing in the suburbs. All that’s missing is a generous foundation with a million bucks or so to invest. The point is that there are ways to support and grow economically diverse communities, if there’s the will to do so. The same basic concept is true for schools. Fifty years of research and experience have shown that high-poverty schools fail. Put those same poor students into schools with a healthier socioeconomic mix and they do much better academically with no adverse impact on their more affluent class classmates. Some urban areas have consolidated school districts (not going to happen here because the legal and political hurdles are too high), but there are other voluntary ways to erase high-poverty schools. Open multiple countywide magnet schools, primary and secondary, with programs attractive to city and suburban families. Triple or quadruple the size of the existing Urban-Suburban program. Look for ways that suburban districts can partner with the city on programs — which could provide better integration and utilize excess building capacity in suburban districts. Simple, but not easy. The path forward is mined with political and logistical obstacles.
AJI Zoning & Land Use Advisory 50 Public Market | 208-2336 1115 East Main St. | 469-8217 Open Studios First Friday Every Month
Awaken: Qi gong, yoga, tai chi, fine art 8 Public Market | 261-5659 Black Button Distilling 85 Railroad St. | 730-4512 blackbuttondistilling.com Tastings • Tours • Private Functions Boulder Coffee Co. | 1 Public Market | 232-5282
MARKET DISTRICT
B U S I N E S S A S S O C I AT I O N
Object Maker | 153 Railroad St. | 244-4933 Friends of Market marketfriends@rochester.rr.com | 325-5058
Carlson Metro Center YMCA 444 east Main St. | 325-2880 City Newspaper (WMT Publications) 250 N. Goodman St. | 244-3329
FOOD SERVICE DISTRIBUTOR
City of Rochester | Market Office | 428-6907
What you need is just a phone call away 20-22 Public Market | 423-0994
Deep Discount Storage 265 Haywood Ave. | 325-5000
Gourmet Waffler | catering | 461-0633
Juan & Maria’s Empanada Stop www.juanandmarias.com | 325-6650 “Home of the highly addictive Spanish foods”
Maguire Property 1115 East Main St. | 747-3839
Paulas Essentials 415 Thurston Road and Public Market 737-9497 Rochester Store Fixture 707 North St. | 546-6706
Greenovation | 1199 East Main St. | 288-7564
Tours • Tastings Private Parties 97 Railroad St. | 546-8020 | rohrbachs.com
Harman Hardwood Flooring Co. 29 Hebard St. | 546-1221
Tim Wilkes Photography 9 Public Market | 423-1966
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