April 27, 2006

Childfree Housing Issues

Found an interesting article on Bella Online about Childfree Housing.

This is an idea I have heard before in childfree circles. I thought of two aunts of mine who live in senior housing where it appears that the residents aren't being screened. I remember sitting in my oldest aunt's apartment during one hot summer day, and watching several folks who looked to be in their twenties, parading past her door with small kids.

My aunt explained that the management who runs the building had allowed a lot of young single moms to move into the building. There were numerous problems not only from the noise the kids kept up, but the young women were not particular about the adult company they kept. Their babies' daddies were in and out, some of them staying there with the women illegally. I thought that was unaccepatable; senior living communities should not have to contend with kids being underfoot at all.



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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmmmm. The bella Kim Kenney is in our sidebar. You can subscribe to her newsletter too.

ElaineByTheBeach said...

Here's the bummer in the Cf housing battle: The Unruh Fair Housing Act. It states that with the exception of Senior housing, no builder or landlord can restrict who they sell/rent to based on age. While we all want and need a peaceful place to live and while some of us don't want to wait until we become age-eligible for senior housing, we have the law working against us. The only exception would be within the structure of an "intentional community" not sure if the Unruh Act governs those as well. Until there's enough legislative muscle to overturn the Act, we're stuck with noisy kid neighbors and their indifferent parents =(

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I hope Bella Kim is reading this. Good stuff. Thanks for posting it AlphaGirl.

I am no leagal beagle but I did some quick online research and it appears this is state law, not national, and open to interpretation state-by-state. I would ask other PW out there, what's it like in your neck of the woods? Has anything changed for the better in recent years in your opinion?

We are enlightened to know that this housing topic is called age discrimination by another name. Interesting that the Californians made an exception for senior housing though.

As for selective housing, I say let your income do the talking. Earn more. If you can afford it, then you can build a bigger fence or have a larger plot or live someplace a struggling family cannot. It's that simple.

ElaineByTheBeach said...

I hate to say it, but until parents take the time to teach theirr kids to be good neighbors, it doesn't matter where one lives...I live in a "nice" area, courtesy of a landlord who gave me a rent break. The kids here are just as unruly and obnoxious as they were(maybe more so) than where I lived before. Sure, it would make sense in some housing markets you could get more bang for your buck and be able to buy/rent a larger/more remote place, but for those of us who struggle to make ends meet, or who can't move for whatever reason, we are stuck with unruly kid neighbors.
It starts with the parents...if they are in denial, very little can be done other than to have a polite conversation with them if the kids are disruptive early in the morning, etc. Aside from that, we are stuck...at least in Ca where I live.
Fortunately, I don't have to hear a lot of the more unruly kid neighbors, but I feel sorry for those on my block who are stuck having to listen to them...

Britgirl said...

Without getting into legal technicalities, I think that in Canada when it comes to housing it is illegal to discrimminate against a person on the basis of age, sex, race, religion. I am pretty sure that the Charter of Rights would apply over and above housing law. I think this is as it should be. Senior housing is different in terms of age as it is especially for seniors and should have something designated in contract about it.
Obviously the management in the case example is not doing their job. The residents should complain.

I am not sure if in Canada you can discriminate against a person with children when it comes to renting property. I know in England that if you are a private landlord renting out your own property you can stipulate no children, just as you can no pets, no smokers or single people only, particularly if you live on the premises.

Britgirl said...

Income doesn't necessarily mean you get to live in an area with no children. In fact, many people with a high disposable income move either to a surburian area, primrily because they have, or want to have children. Lots of expensive houses, but also, lots of space, garden, bigger homes, schools, and generally lots of kid-friendly things. Now, if you live downtown, like we do, (we live in a condo in downtown Toronto right on the lake) it's the complete opposite in most cases. There are NO children in our building, except whene they come to visit their grandparents or aunts/uncles. We have a swimming pool and honestly that's the only place I've ever come across them, in school holiday time. Our condo rules stipulate that children must not be left to wander about, or cause nuisance to others, and must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Our building has a mix of older people, married, singles and professionals, (we are in the latter group!), and it is the absolute BEST. We live in a beautiful, well kept, peaceful building and we chose it deliberately. There are no or very few children in the area.

We probably pay more than your average homeowner living outside downtown (maybe), but it is worth every single penny. My peace of mind is priceless. Don't want kids getting on your nerves? Want peace of mind? Live in a condo - downtown.

twiga92 said...

We live in a one-bedroom apartment currently which seems to eliminate kids as neighbors. A good thing too, cuz our walls are super-thin. Our building is attached to the next and there's a row of buildings. Our row is 1-bedrooms. Across the parking lot are 2-bedrooms. There are a bunch of kids who live across the way. Generally we don't deal with kids indoors. But we do have to deal with kids running around the parking lot and playing behind our apartment building in the grass when the weather is nice. The other day we actually had a kid bang on our window. Our cat was in the window (I think they were trying to be friendly with the cat). Yikes!

Anonymous said...

For the record, I have contacted Kim Kenney the author of this article and requested her permission to "piggy back" and track back to her article like this. She really appreciated being asked and thanked us for the link.

The only thing Bella Online does not approve of is the copying and republishing of an entire work.

BTW, she has a link to the Official Purple Women website -- so it's linky love all round!