If the Minute Men types would just think a little about the recent compaints about immigrants and crowded housing. Its the low wages that force people to live several to a home. Do the complainer types think people do this by choice?
Each wave of immigration (legal or not) has brought crowded housing with it... think of New York in the early 20th century.
Again as I've repeated a number of times... think of how one thing provokes another...
We want a low wage work force
People come to work at low wages
They can't afford the housing so they double, triple up
Communities complain and outlaw crowded housing
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PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY
McMansions Turn 'McApartments,' Stirring Ire
By Ovetta Wiggins
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 4, 2007; Page B02
The new house on Allison Street in North Brentwood is two stories higher than the older homes that surround it. It doesn't have a porch, shutters or any of the other distinguishing features found on the century-old bungalows on the block.
"It's out of character for the town," said Mayor Petrella A. Robinson, who lives across the street, with a dog on her front porch.
... in North Brentwood and other small municipalities in northern Prince George's County, mansionization comes with a twist: Some of the new homes, neighbors and town leaders say, are being used as boardinghouses for several families or unrelated people. Some are college students from the University of Maryland. Others appear to be immigrants.
"Our concern with these McMansions is they are not single-family homes," LaVerne Williams of Lewisdale told a group of county planners and elected officials in Riverdale. "You are turning our communities into rooming communities."
Williams, 81, is leading a campaign to protect her neighborhood and beyond. She walked into the recent meeting with a cane in one hand and a fistful of pictures of oversize houses in the other.
"I'm a law-abiding citizen," she said. "You have to do something about this."
Prince George's planners have launched a study of mansionization, spurred not just by neighborhood complaints but also by pressure from state lawmakers.
Last year, state delegates proposed legislation that would have given 11 Prince George's towns and small cities control over zoning, a power now reserved for the county -- except in the city of Laurel.
The bill died in committee, but not for lack of local support. Del. Barbara A. Frush, a Beltsville Democrat, said she understands the plight of neighbors, feeling helpless while their community is altered.
"They make these things into not a McMansion but a McApartment building," Frush said.
..."We've had a number of communities that have expressed concern," said Samuel Parker Jr., chairman of the Planning Board. "And we know the issue in Prince George's is a little different" from those of neighboring counties.
County law declares that no more than five people unrelated by blood or marriage can live in a single-family house. But enforcement has been lax, said Bob Schnabel of College Park.
...In 2005, Manassas caused an uproar when it restricted single-family homes to immediate relatives, even if the number of occupants was below the legal limit. The law was meant to address problems associated with crowded housing and illegal immigration. But officials repealed the law after civil rights leaders complained.
Kristie M. Mills, city administrator for Laurel, said her city's new code was not based on ethnicity but fire safety. Under the ordinance, each house is limited to a certain number of occupants, based on the number and square footage of bedrooms.
"We had inspectors who were finding houses were being redeveloped, they were adding rooms without permits," Mills said. "One instance, the inspector found sprinklers covered up. It's boiled down to a life-saving issue."
..In a walk through Langley Park, she pointed to several houses that tower over the bungalows. One had several cars parked around it. Another, under construction, had several entrances, suggesting that more than one family could eventually live there.
At another, Mirna Segovia answered the door and explained that she and her husband expanded their Keokee Street home two years ago simply to make room for their five children.
"It was too small," she said.
Staff writer Virgil Dickson contributed to this report.
for complete article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090301114.html
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