Straight from the Mike…Michael Murphy, A Dream Deferred

If you happen to have a son, daughter, grandson, or granddaughter that may have sights on settling in Cobb, after graduation, marriage, first job or otherwise, to pursue the American dream and planting a seed of legacy, that dream is likely to be deferred. They most likely will have to wait or look elsewhere farther out.

The reality of attaining the dream of home ownership near term in Cobb County is fading like the evening sunset. If you are waiting for a viable road map for homeownership for working families from the current county administration, as my Dad would aptly put it, you are leaning on a broken stick. The county has failed us. It has fallen woefully short from an action, policy, and leadership standpoint.

I want to hasten to point out there is a silver lining to this conundrum. The Cobb Couth Housing Authority has consistently supported a pathway to that first home for our valued county employees. They have done so throughout the county and spearheaded the funding and bank support to make it a reality to grab the gold ring of owning a home in Cobb.

I am unaware of any other county in the state that has come through like CHA under the leadership of Marvin Shams. This action had the magnitude and prospect to be a beacon of hope, a dream merchant for other projects. Instead, workforce housing has become the flavor of the month in speeches and town hall fodder.

An appointed Affordable Housing Task Force does exist under the auspices of the Chair. I can only suspect that if there was any encouraging activity taking place, we should have heard about it by now.

We have missed the low interest mortgage rates of the 3-4% era but it should not deter us from getting at least one project underway. Otherwise, Washington will step in; throw our tax dollars at Affordable Housing with likely little success. I thought that’s what we have banks for. After all, history has shown us, they are too big to fail.

In the meantime, surrounding cities and counties are making things happen on the housing and homelessness fronts. You can look down your nose at the City of Atlanta if you care to, however, they are closing the delta with action, not rhetoric. We see things moving in nearby Powder Springs to actively address the ‘Missing Middle’ in the housing market. Golden Aires, like me, are being thought of and being offered attainable options. The absolute truism here is when the leader is committed to viable solutions to critical challenges, the people win.

When the people win, the city, the county, and the community wins. Conversely, when the body politic has no sense of urgency, has a deaf ear to the call for action, no pulse on the missing middle, we are shown what I call benign neglect.

We are soon to get the results of a consultant study of the county’s 50-year-old zoning regulations. The UDC (Uniform Development Code) report should be quite interesting to learn as to whether their recommendations will serve our county for even the next 10 years. If the report avoids addressing the need for ADU’s (Accessible Dwelling Units), Tiny Homes, and 21st century density guidelines, then I will suggest we have squandered more money on a circular cruise to nowhere.

Look, I am not tone deaf to the sporadic whining from the NIMBYites. The comments of wanting to keep Cobb suburban are well taken and appreciated. I can relate and share that point of view, to a degree. The comment that causes me heart burn is, “We don’t want to be like Atlanta.”

From my perch, Atlanta is on the move. It is projected that by 2050, they are projected to have over 1.2 billion residents. They have introduced innovative ways of addressing the homelessness situation that exists outside of Atlanta, as well. The utilization of shipping containers and building conversion are hardly unheard of.

The area that has befuddled me has been the blind eye from housing officials, developers, and housing specialist, such as Habitat and others, to the reality of SIPS (Structurally Infused Panels). They offer a less costly, more stable, and safer alternative to the traditional stick build method. Imagine, being able to build a home in slightly over 3 days.

Oh well, a discussion for another time. Moreover, when we allow one’s dreams to fade, albeit gracefully, they are replaced by lesser goals. Mr. Langston Hughes put it so well with a few lines from his ‘Dream Deferred’ poem. “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun or fester like a sore and then run?”

I will remain steadfast and encouraged that often times the solution to many of our issues is just an election away.

I am Michael Murphy…