On Sat, 3 Jan 2009 22:18:35 -0600, "HeyBub"
wrote:

"RESIDENTS of a model housing estate bankrolled by Hollywood celebrities and
hand-built by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, are complaining that it
is falling apart.

Is this more of the '2 nations divided by a common language'? To
me they just said Carter built the whole damn thing hisself-- then
they say there were 10000 volunteers.


"Fairway Oaks was built on northern Florida wasteland by 10,000 volunteers,
including Carter, in a record 17-day "blitz" organized by the charity
Habitat for Humanity.

"Eight years later it is better known for cockroaches, mildew and mysterious
skin rashes."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5439388.ece


Here's another story on it from June 2007.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/us/17habitat.html

3 comments--
1. Friggin' Florida. Does this sound a bit political;
"April Charney, a lawyer representing many of the 85 homeowners in
Fairway Oaks, said she had no problems taking on Habitat for Humanity,
despite its status as a 'darling of liberal social activists.' "

2. Diennal Fields sums it up nicely-
"Some residents dismiss their neighbours’ worries. Diennal Fields, 51,
said people did not know how to look after their homes: “It’s simple
stuff: if there is mildew, don’t get a lawyer, get a bottle of
bleach.”

3. To round some numbers off-- 100 homes built 8 yrs ago have 100
complaints brought to the builder & a couple were unresolvable. Is
that a bad record? [I don't know- I've never gotten involved in
mass-produced housing]

For the rest of the folks they are living in $90K houses with a
mortgage/insurance 'burden' of $300/month.

That sounds like a success to me.

People are involved so it ain't perfect. But it sure beats any
government program I can think of.

Jim