Zogby poll questions on affordable housing...

[Skidmore]

I've been taking this Zogby survey and these questions are pissing me off. It is making me wonder who has commissioned this survey and why they are asking these forced choice questons.

Example:

Would you sacrifice services, such as high-quality schools and recreational facilities, for a home that was more affordably priced with less-desirable services?

My comment: why can't we have affordable housing and a reasonable way to soundly invest in public services? Why must it be either/or?)

[dmallind]

1. the question does not imply that though

It's not assuming that your scenario is impossible, merely asking for what trade offs people may make. After all would we really need a poll for "would you prefer more affordable housing if you still received optimal services and facilities?"

And certainly affordability DOES impact services. Since property taxes are a part of affordability (especially where I live - the property tax portion is well over 1/3 of my entire mortgage payment) and are often a major source of funding for schools and government services, it's not like there is no connection.

To get to where you (and everyone else I assume, certainly me) would want to be - affordable housing with no loss of services - we would have to divorce the connection between property values and tax levies for public education and amenities.