A recent pledge of $500 million to help build affordable housing in Seattle led to excited buzz about private enterprise stepping up the the plate for affordable housing, when governments drag their heels.
A recent article in the Guardian, however, questions the legitimacy of this so-called gift from a company that, along with Amazon and other large corporations, waged a successful fight to prevent Seattle from levying a small business tax to support affordable housing.
Just one of the ‘home truths’ covered in the article? Fully $475 of the $500 million ‘gift’ is not a gift at all, but a market rate investment that will have to be repaid.
Read more on why Seattle and other cities should avoid placing their faith in private companies with shareholder profit as their bottom line. Instead, the article offers reasons why government can do the job better.
Read more in The Guardian: Why are we relying on tech overlords like Microsoft for affordable housing?
