The Trouble With Renters

 

The trouble with renters is that they are looking for a decent place to live that they can afford. 

That’s it. That’s the problem.

They’re not inherently “less than” homeowners. They aren’t guaranteed to represent a transient/bad element in a neighborhood. 

They don’t care less about where they live. 

Renters do valuable, necessary jobs in a community and by valuable I mean something you need that you couldn’t do yourself. That could be teachers or nurses or firefighters but can also be the cook in your favorite restaurant, a mechanic, janitorial staff at the hospital or the check out clerk at the grocery where you like to shop.

But, in fact, it doesn’t matter whether any particular homeowner thinks that renters are worth including. It’s ridiculous to think that anyone needs to make a case to include them. How would you like it if your sense of belonging in any given place was dependent upon someone else’s opinion?

Renters belong in Howard County and yet so many folks have decided that they are the people who don’t count.

One of the questions I keep seeing on the Columbia and Howard County Reddit pages pertain to rental housing. Some of them look like this: 

Liked the place when I toured the model.  Staff was friendly and helpful - location works well for me.  But, Google reviews seem to be largely negative, based on maintenance and office staff responsiveness.   But most reviews were over a year old.  Any current or recent residents who would like to share their experiences?   Thanks.

Some are from folks moving here from elsewhere and asking for recommendations of good places to rent in a specific part of the county.

The more I read these, the more I wonder about:

1. what we could do to make this search process better, and 

2. whether we do anything to make sure that rental properties are responsive to tenants. 

To be clear, I’m not saying that this doesn’t exist already. I’m saying these are things I wonder about and I want to learn more.

There’s so much focus on home ownership in Howard County. Yes, there are very good reasons to promote and support home ownership. But almost everyone at one point or another will be a renter. And some folks, whether we acknowledge it or not, will always be renters. 

Their lives and their needs should be every bit as important to us. We have “blue ribbon schools.” Do we have “blue ribbon” rental properties? “Blue ribbon” rental search organizations? 

Imagine for a moment that the world has been turned in its head and that renting has become the high-status, preferred choice. What kinds of services, supports, and generally positive bells and whistles would the market create for them? Do you have that picture in mind? Good. Now let’s make it so. 

In short, the trouble with renters is not them. It’s us.

Village Green/Town² Comments