Old and Foreclosed Homes a Potential Jobs Gold Mine?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
ST. PAUL, Minn. - A state-directed effort to create jobs through building and renovating affordable housing units could both aid job creation and provide homes for low- and moderate-income workers. That's what Minnesota Housing Partnership director Chip Halbach told members of the state House Jobs Task Force on Monday.
Halbach says the state could deploy out-of-work construction tradesmen toward rehabbing homes that were foreclosed on.
"Many of those are sitting vacant and really do need public investment to be brought back to life for the benefit of the families that would be moving into them, as well as to protect the investments of other homeowners in those neighborhoods where there are high levels of foreclosures."
Halbach also suggests the state could lay the foundation for more affordable housing options along light rail lines and other transit corridors, which would provide another boost for the construction industry.
Halbach notes that there are some 50,000 apartments and other housing units built with public support over the decades in Minnesota. He says rehabbing those units could be a third way to create jobs for idle construction workers while aiding other people who are struggling to afford good homes.
"As the decades have gone by, these housing units have wasted physically and now need substantial renovation. And that's just the type of good work that residential construction workers can be doing at this point if the state would make an investment."
The House Jobs Task Force is made up of three dozen lawmakers and others working to address solutions to the state's employment slump. It was formed last summer to collect ideas and information and advise lawmakers on ways to create jobs. The results of the hearings will guide policy decisions during the 2010 Legislative Session.
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