Housing Subsidies Benefit the Entire Community

Jennifer A. Fraulo '96 is perfectly right that Cambridge would be a more vibrant community if it retained the diversity of young and old, rich and poor, bohemian and staid middle class, rather than be a homogeneous suburb of the wealthy. (Letter to the Editor, Jan. 5, 1996)

She wants landlords (including, or especially, Harvard), to rent apartments or sell houses below market values, to maintain low and moderate-income housing.

But why should landlords subsidize individuals out of their pockets? If this is for the gain of the community--and it is--then the community should pay for it out of higher taxes on all its citizens, including Harvard students who enjoy the benefits of diversity. --Adam Karmon