Cooperative Sustainability Project Write Up

I recently changed my project from making medications available to third world countries to making co-ops a more affordable form of low-income housing. My new topic is an issue closer to me.  Cooperative housing is a form of housing where people live together in a house and share ownership and responsibly of the property. We see more and more public housing buildings being demolished in major U.S. cities every year.  I propose that we as a society invest in cooperative housing programs.  Cooperative housing is a style of living where people in a building complex share ownership and responsibility of the property.  Widespread cooperative housing would be a successful policy, because cooperatives are cost-effective, and give residents a stake in their community.

Cooperative living is a much more sustainable way to live than other conventional styles such as single-family homes or single person apartments.  Not only do cooperatives generally save on space, they also generally save on food, because they buy in bulk instead of smaller portions of food that use more packaging.

I believe the government should allocate funds to give people cooperative shares and set up cooperatives in more low-income areas.  Unlike section 8 housing, in cooperatives people have a voice in how their building is run and have an interest in the sustainability of that community, not profits.   Unfortunately, in many cites, housing cooperatives do not even exist, including Milwaukee.  Therefore, we should set up small-scale cooperatives first so that communities can get used to them, then expand from there.