William Marvel: Substandardization

The first attempt to promote affordable housing in Conway flourished just over three decades ago, not long after the town adopted construction standards that inevitably raised the cost of building a house. About the same time, state officials intervened to force some low-income families out of cabins in Albany on the grounds that it was substandard housing, citing the presence of children to invoke state authority. The combination of those two events prompted a Bartlett woman to remind the supporters of both housing regulations and affordable housing that it was the very substandard nature of housing that made it affordable.

The problem in Albany was, I think, no electricity in the cabins, or no running water, or no indoor bathroom, and probably a combination of those ingredients. Having spent most of a year living in a one-room cabin where I had to haul my water and use an outhouse year-round, I sympathized with the rigors faced by the parents of those children. That style of living is not easy, but it’s much more affordable than renting an apartment with all the modern conveniences. I was able to get by for a year on a few months’ wages, and during the course of that year, I wrote my first book.