It’s complicated to care for people, navigate neighborhood and city politics, and get things built. Our culture says “the math doesn’t work” when low income commmunities demand equity. Profit for those who already have wealth is the priority in most all housing conversations. The same home built in Leawood, KS and the Lykins Neighborhood of KCMO will cost the same to construct in either location. But the financial value after it is built is appraised by the “market” in the location it is built. So, since Leawood has a greater “value” than Lykins, the same home is worth less (legacy of “Redlining”). A good comparison is to imagine if you buy a Tesla and drive it through both neighborhoods. We would think someone foolish if they said that by driving a Tesla in a poor community, it is now worth less than when it was in Leawood. But, when the asset cannot move, it’s value is based on the worth that our culture has for the other people living around the asset, not the asset itself. A car is worth the same in both communities. A new home is worth what a mortgage lender values the “neighborhood” that the new home is in. Not the actual value of the asset. When it comes to housing development, Profit is King. Why would you build where the home is worth less? For 50 years, there hasn’t been new home construction (except for the work of Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City ) in the Lykins neighborhood because everyone who looks into it comes to the same conclusion. They (residents of Lykins) are not worth it. Choosing to built with the same level of care that can be demanded in Leawood, but placing that in Lykins, is a choice to deny “Profit as King” and instead say “our neighbors deserve better”. , Reda Ibrahim and Cesar Cea, PE show that good people will sacrifice for their community. Even when everyone else is too afraid to take the risk. They stopped believing the lie that $ = value. They built an asset in a community and they show us a path for People = Value thinking in new home construction in KCMO.
Take⭐5 minutes⭐out of your day to see how compassion, shared vision, partnership, and action transforms our community for the better 😊
https://lnkd.in/dZQbtghh
