Today I went to a job fair, it was a clear indication of where our economy is right now. Lots of unemployed people waiting in lines to apply for a small number of jobs. In the list of jobs I noted journalism as an option but when I inquired at the information table as to where the journalism job booth was, I was directed to the army table. Right....forty year old grandma joins the army to become a journalist. Basically I stood in lines for almost an hour only to be given advice on how to get a job with the state. The man at the table, who I originally thought was with the state asked me what I do. I looked at him, completely irritated on the inside, and mildly so on the outside and said "Geography", at which point he stared for a moment and then suggested I slip in as a student assistant. Your know there's a problem when hundreds of people show up for a job fair that only as about eight real job vendors attending.
Needless to say, I didn't get a job, or even the prospect of a job.
At least I have a home. Today I saw a man carrying a sign in the rain saying "Where am I supposed to live?" I'm not quite sure what his purpose was, but I suspect it was to draw attention to the problem of shutting down housing for the poor such as SROs (which stands for single room occupancy, generally old motels converted to apartments) in order to turn the old buildings into luxury hotels. I recently wrote a paper for school and in it I discussed the need to keep the SROs open and running for the poor, but then to bring housing into the city for low and middle income families as well as high income families and singles or DINKS. I don't think any city can be completely vital without a mix of incomes, ages, family sizes and every other possible mix you can think of. Sure there can be art districts, business districts etc, but if you don't have a good mix of income levels and ages nothing can thrive. It is very important to keep the homes for the poorest of our communities, and make sure they are good places to live, because they have a right to a safe home just as well as the rest of us. And if we mix things up enough, areas would be safer because all most people really want is a safe place to live, and we're all more safe in the company of others than isolated and segmented into our little corners. But perhaps I'm ranting a little bit tonight.
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What's a DINK?
ReplyDeleteDINK stands for Double Income No Kids. Meaning, couples who both work and don't have children to support, giving them lots of spare money to spend on things like nice restaraunts and cultural venues.
ReplyDeleteThose are interesting things to consider when thinking about how cities thrive. I never thought that way before.
ReplyDeleteViola, (Mom :))
ReplyDeleteJane Jacobs explains it all so well, when she talks about the need for more people living close together in the city, and a variety of people so that there are always people out and about. The more people, to a point, on the street, the safer you are, because there are more people keeping an eye on each other. She also talks about healthy mixes of people forming communities in their urban neighborhood where even if your not close friends with each other, you still look out for each other. A natural neighborhood watch program can form organically.
I still have much to read on it though.