all that glitters is not gold

When I first stumbled upon the new housing projects for lower income families in Philadelphia, I have to admit, I celebrated. The rows of identical homes seemed so clean and sparkly after walking through streets of abandoned and dirty old housing stock. But visit a housing project a few years later, and it will look like a bland Edward Scissorhands suburb gone bad—with broken glass on the ground, restlessness in the air and houses fallen into disrepair.

The new housing is often poorly constructed and designed. Oftentimes, the walls between houses are not fireproofed. After their shiny newness wears off, they look a whole lot more ugly than rehabilitated early 20^th century row homes, which give much of Philadelphia its architectural character.

A nonprofit organization dedicated primarily to property rehab and renovation is facing drastic funding cuts that may force them to close because a national housing group has decided to focus on new housing because its results are more measurable.

It’s sad. A nonprofit doing valuable work is failing just because “300 new homes created” sounds so much better than “300 homes renovated”. Or perhaps because new homes are easier to count than it is to determine the value created from restoring an abandoned buildings, or from performing major repairs on an existing property. Or perhaps because we just like what’s new and flashy, or what’s streamlined and efficient. But creation of the new is not always better than restoration of the old. All that glitters is not gold.

* It's been awhile. My blog writing appears to have gone into hibernation with the onset of the cold weather and of my endless wedding/life related to-do lists.