Regarding your editorial against Baltimore County blocking affordable housing in Rosedale, my son has some college, works as an electrical journeyman and has held the same job for 10 years, has a credit score in the high 700s and owns his own car ("Just saying no isn't good enough," Nov. 20).
He also has two disabilities — narcolepsy and epilepsy.
He lives in a cramped, two-bedroom apartment with his wife and three kids and is on a waiting list for a three-bedroom apartment which they may not be able to afford.
He has never been arrested nor ever used or abused drugs. His wife also works. They make less than $60,000.00 a year.
They are the working poor. They can't afford a home that costs over $100,000. These are the people that Baltimore County has rejected.
In my neighborhood there is currently at least one house on every block that is empty and owned by the bank.
What a wonderful idea it would be to offer these empty homes to good people, with help from grants and low-interest loans. These wouldn't be Section 8. They would be for the good, honest, hard-working poor.
I agree with some of the County Council's concerns. In the 1970s and '80s, Reisterstown had one of the county's highest concentrations of Section 8 housing until Steve Hvinding was killed and his family went on a rampage. There has got to be a better way.
Section 8 developments cater to the poorest of the poor, plus crime, unfortunately. However my idea would work better because it would put hard working, non-criminals in housing developments near their work or families. And if they own their own homes, they tend to take better care of them than renters.
I hope they do come up with a better solution. I would love for people like my son and his family to own their own home someday.
Trixie Leigh
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