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smartest_kobold t1_ja7iz9h wrote

Oh, it's a company town. Nice to see those coming back. Maybe their employees get some extra company scrip next month.

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GraniteGeekNH OP t1_ja7l6tx wrote

No - as the story says, the development is open to anybody. They haven't figured out how to choose renters, since they're already swamped with interest.

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smartest_kobold t1_ja7uash wrote

So they can make company housing with all the state funded economic incentives of affordable/"workforce housing"?

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GraniteGeekNH OP t1_ja7xkjm wrote

Read the story, it has details.

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TheTowerBard t1_ja84t6n wrote

I read it, it’s a company town with a twist:

“The project, a modern twist on the old model of companies building housing for workers…”

This is not the solution our society needs.

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simonhunterhawk t1_ja8dodt wrote

Back when company towns were huge, they’d send someone to tell a man’s wife he’d died in the mines/factory/etc and they either needed to provide another worker (boy older than 10) or move within 7 days. If the child couldn’t be as productive as his father was, he’d get only half his dad’s wages so they’d still be fucked.

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RickyDaytonaJr t1_ja8inqr wrote

You load 16 tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go, I owe my soul to the company store.

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the_nobodys t1_ja8enlj wrote

I agree, I think that will happen in Dover. I'd hate to be that little boy earning half of daddy's Dover Delite pay, but whatayagonnado? Someone has to scoop, I mean mine those ice cream tubs.

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simonhunterhawk t1_ja8ff2t wrote

I mean laws are different now so realistically they’d probably just evict a family but even then for some low income people that could mean homelessness if they can’t find different housing, and most families are dual income these days anyways. But I just feel like it’s important to remember why company towns went away in the first place.

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IntelligentMeal40 t1_ja9takx wrote

What do you mean the laws are different now? Just last year New Hampshire made it so that 15 and 16-year-olds can work 32 hours a week. You haven’t seen the signs for McDonald’s help wanted giving different wages for different ages?

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simonhunterhawk t1_ja9twxb wrote

I didn’t know that, I’m a fairly recent import from FL, but they had really lax child labor laws there too. When I was a minor my managers at two different companies regularly broke break schedule laws even though I would remind them I had to take an unpaid break every 4 hours, I’d hit overtime and work overnights at one job because I didn’t have a traditional school schedule and could work different hours. At 16/17 years old. But it’s a little different than 10 year olds hitting the mines, hopefully it never goes to that again at least.

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mamercus-sargeras t1_ja8dsgc wrote

"I spent 5 minutes reading about something being bad in college, so therefore a solution to an urgent problem that reminds me of that is also bad."

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TheTowerBard t1_ja8gjdg wrote

This problem hasn’t been urgent forever, and those of us that paid attention in school and took in these lessons from history, have been trying to get all the brainwashed corporate bootlickers of our society to get their collective heads out of their collective asses for the last 40 years. And now that it IS urgent, you idiots still want to lick boots instead of listen to the people whose concerns are continually proven right? This is why we can’t have nice things.

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the_nobodys t1_ja8iy0k wrote

You just sound like a contrarion. What about new, relatively dense housing development is bad for society exactly?

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-cochise t1_jaalx2x wrote

That’s an exaggeration but let’s pretend it’s accurate: is that better or worse than no staff housing?

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Squidworth89 t1_ja7ubrr wrote

Waahhhh!!! Society is failing to build affordable housing so an employer is trying something but he’s the employer so that’s bad! Waahhhh!!!

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smartest_kobold t1_ja7v82t wrote

They seem to be getting all the subsidies and tax benefits for "affordable" housing and all the convenience and economic benefits of company housing. Sounds like corporate welfare to me.

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Squidworth89 t1_ja7wtv3 wrote

There’s nothing in the article about the project having tax benefits beyond normal real estate or subsidies.

Sounds like you can’t read to me.

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smartest_kobold t1_ja85z76 wrote

They'd be fools not to apply for the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. There's an Affordable Housing Fund that supplies low interest loans and grants. Plus, if they pay their employees poorly enough for them to qualify for housing vouchers, they get the money they save on labor and that sweet government subsidy.

They run a private business and have no reason or obligation to announce to a local reporter where the money comes from gets made on this feel good story with an easy SEO boosting buzzword.

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TheMobyDicks t1_ja8cyc2 wrote

Well, for one thing, they didn't really understand LIHTC when they started the project. It's kind of a difficult process but I'm confident they'll apply on future projects that don't involve housing for their own employees. That particularly was why they didn't pursue it for the Dover project because if they accepted LIHTC resources they couldn't direct any units towards their employees. Yes, the project was bourn as a way to house Harmony Homes folks, but they've been approached by so many would-be renters and companies that need employees, they plan on building attainable housing in other parts of the state. As an example, they were approached by Manchester to see if they can collaborate on a project in that town to create such housing. The name of the game is house workers as affordably as possible.

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TheMobyDicks t1_ja83zxv wrote

Congratulations. You're EXACTLY wrong. Fact is, they applied for InvestNH and didn't get it. John plans, when the ribbon is cut (and, of course, the politicians are there), to note he and Maggie did the project without any outside financial assistance.

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smartest_kobold t1_ja86tg5 wrote

  1. I'd be surprised. There's a lot of programs. I'd want to look at the financial records before I believe it.
  2. Nothing stops them from taking tax credits in the future and I doubt anyone's going to check or care when that happens.
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TheMobyDicks t1_ja89wtj wrote

Be surprised all you want. I know this project backwards and forwards and Chris Parker as well. You're just WRONG. These folks are doing something that the seacoast and state desperately need. And kudos to Dover for letting it happen. Here's some facts for you:

  1. There is a labor shortage on the seacoast (and state)
  2. There is not enough housing, particularly attainable housing, on the seacoast
  3. The Randolphs and Dover are doing something outside the box to try to help the situation
  4. Their plan going forward is to work with other businesses to help fund similar type housing, including multifamily where zoned/appropriate, in other communities of the willing

Now I'm sure you can agree on points one and two. That said, what's your solution? Er, pay people more? No even close to practical in many industries. With the supply chain issues and other economic factors many companies are operating on razor thin margins. Yes, granted there are plenty of employers who gouge on wages but that doesn't account for the crisis we're in. Honestly, I'd love to hear what you think employers and the state should do about the workforce and housing crises?

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the_nobodys t1_ja8f8v7 wrote

Why are you providing NIMBYs with facts? They just don't want to hear them, gosh darn it!

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