Apartment Choice

This article is the first in a series based on new research into the place of lower-income and disadvantaged households in a compact city. There’s been a lot of talk about apartment living of late. Whether it’s millennials who can’t afford to buy a house, downsizers making a lifestyle change, owner-occupiers struggling to get defective buildings fixed , or foreign investors buying into new development, there’s no shortage of opinions and interest. Except for one group: lower-income and vulnerable residents . In Greater Sydney, the latest census data show that almost one in five households (17%) living in apartments and townhouses have weekly household incomes of less than A$649. Among this group the largest sub-group (36%) live in private rental housing . That’s more than 72,000 households living on $649 or less per week in a housing market where average weekly rents for apartments are $550. Our research for Shelter NSW identifies multiple challenges such households face. Further...

BIG POOL — Clyde W. Crabtree Sr. was a quiet, soft-spoken man whose humble nature belied an interesting career. His work took him far from his modest beginnings in Western Maryland , even though he never lived more than 150 miles from where he began. Clyde was born and raised in an era where technical training was on the job — carpentry in his case. It was through that training that Clyde got a job with the Department of the Army and worked at Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery . A self-described jack-of-all-trades, Clyde did carpentry and maintenance work, and closed off roads for funeral processions. No matter when it snowed, Clyde was expected to help keep the cemetery roads plowed , and clear a path at the Tomb of the Unknowns and the eternal flame at President John F. Kennedy's grave. He helped build the space shuttle Challenger memorial gazebo , and was involved with the burial of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis . Clyde and his co-workers removed the granite stones around Preside...