It’d be cliché to cast renterphobia as “the last acceptable form of discrimination”, but it’s impossible to mistake the vitriol one detects when local leaders, many of them frequent commenters here at NoN, use the terms “transient” and “commuter” to denigrate recently-arrived residents and renters of all stripes.
In the spirit of good faith, I’m sure that, if challenged, these leaders would vehemently deny any kind of prejudice or bigotry. Thus, assuming their good faith, I have some questions for them:
1. What makes a “transient”? Is it “years lived in Norwalk”? Is it where they live in Norwalk? Is it the type of house they live in Norwalk — whether apartment, single-family, condo, or other? Is it how recently their housing was built — and if so, what about a lifelong Norwalker who decides to move into a recently-built apartment? What about a recently-built single-family home? Is it how far away they’ve moved from? Surely someone from Darien who recently decided to rent in SoNo is not a “transient”, no? What if they commute to the city? Is it about whether they’ve put down roots — like having kids, or participating in local civic organizations? What if you don’t like those organizations?
2. Our good friend and upstanding Norwalker John Levin has worked at many prestigious Wall Street firms over the years, and indeed I expect has commuted in to NYC using the lovely Metro North train. Is he a dreaded “commuter” as well? If not, what separates him from these dastardly others?
3. We never seem to get these complaints about senior living centers, many of which have been built quite recently, share all of the ugly aesthetics of other recent construction, have high density, and pose significant traffic burdens due to the elderly drivers they bring. Why are these exempt? Given that some of their residents are surely not long for this world, why are they not considered “transients”?
4. How long does it take to lose the “transient” designation? If every single person you currently consider a “transient” stays here for that long, will you still be unhappy about them being here? What if they buy a house — does that jump them to the front of the line? If a renter stays here long enough to stop being considered a “transient”, then do you consider it a problem if they still cannot afford to buy a house? Beyond the passage of time or purchase of a house, is there any other formal or informal way to lose the designation — some sort of “naturalization” process for Norwalkers? If so, and assuming that they’re a US citizen, why should a US citizen have to be “naturalized” to live anywhere in their country of birth? Would this imply that Norwalk should form its own separate, sovereign nation, so as to better control who migrates here?
Some straight, honest answers to these questions should be more than sufficient to prove anyone’s good faith.
Or, at least, short of that, expose their lack thereof.
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