The April 2020 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives TV program helps the public understand the serious shortage of housing that is truly affordable for people who are not rich. Local governments in Olympia and elsewhere want to solve the problem, but they have misdiagnosed the problem, so they have proposed the wrong solutions, such as the so-called “Missing Middle.”
This interview and the compelling graphs we show help you understand the real reasons for the problem – and why the “Missing Middle” would NOT solve the problems. We need better solutions.
For background Glen encouraged people to watch his March 2019 TV program titled, “What’s Wrong with the Missing Middle.” You can watch the inter-view and/or read a thorough summary of what we said through the “TV Programs” part of his blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org. The direct link to the video and thorough summary is at http://parallaxperspectives.org/tv-program-whats-wrong-with-the-missing-middle
This new TV interview features two guests who know a lot about the issues and are able to explain them clearly. Jay Elder was in the TV studio and Larry Dzieza participated by video.
We started the interview by saying what the “Missing Middle” claims to do, and how it fails to accomplish those goals.
We focused on the hard realities that Olympia lacks enough housing that is truly affordable — either to buy or to rent. Incomes are too low for a great many people, and income inequality has been getting worse.
The “Missing Middle” is another stupid example of “Trickle-Down” economics that conservatives keep promoting. It does not solve problems anywhere in our society, and certainly not in our shortage of affordable housing. Instead, the “Missing Middle” would promote tearing down affordable housing and replacing it with housing that is more expensive. This would displace current residents, cause gentrification, and reduce diversity.
The “Missing Middle” is an example of what Naomi Klein explains in her Shock Doctrine book: Exploit a crisis in order to impose harsh right-wing economic “solutions” upon a stressed population.
Our guests — Jay and Larry — urge us to define the problems correctly so we can create practical solutions for the actual problems. The City of Olympia used a defective process that avoided honest democracy and crammed a phony remedy down our throats.
Fortunately, a smart grassroots organization — Olympians for Smart Development & Livable Neighborhoods (OSD&LN) has been working effectively to counter that and has defeated the City of Olympia in seven legal cases. See OSD&LN’s website, www.densitydoneright.org
The interview will air on Thurston Community Television (TCTV cable channel 22), part of Thurston County Media (www.tcmedia.org) three times a week during April 2020: every Monday at 1:30 pm, every Wednesday at 5:00 pm, and every Thursday at 9:00 pm.
You can watch the interview at any time now and long into the future at this link: WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE
I typed up a thorough summary of what we said during the interview. The thorough summary includes Jay Elder’s informative graphs. You can read the thorough summary at this link: 2020.04 Missing Middle Facts vs Myths — SUMMARY and RESOURCES
After I produced this TV program and posted it to my blog, my e-mail address changed from glenanderson@integra.net to glen@parallaxperspectives.org. When you watch the TV video and/or read the linked document, please use my new e-mail address (and/or phone me at 360-491-9093) if you have any questions or want more information.
