Problems Plague Construction of the Costly Century Freeway

After reading the article concerning the Century Freeway housing project, I was appalled to read that so many homes and apartments are being left vacant and boarded up. The project is obviously being mishandled.

Why doesn’t the city find a constructive way to solve this problem? There are hundreds of homeless people out on the street who would give anything to have a place to live. Why aren’t they offered this “wonderful” housing? After living on the streets they probably would be happy to be given the opportunity to put a roof over their head. Many of these people have children and pray every day for a place to house their child that isn’t a shelter or the back of a car, if they are lucky enough to get that. Put the homeless in these homes on a priority basis. If necessary put them on relief for a specific period of time and have them pay a low rent until they find a job and can get back on their feet. Once the people are located in these apartments and condominiums, the city could have a few people work as handymen and maintain the property and do general repairs for the complex to ensure that everything is being properly maintained.

Some may think that this is a rather simple solution but it can work. With proper regulation such as the periodic inspections that HUD uses to insure that the homes are being maintained in a proper state of cleanliness, the homes will be an asset to the community rather than an eyesore and a constant problem.

BEVERLY COYNE

Oceanside