The eight-story, 150-unit Elara at the Market looks like just another sleek apartment building in Seattle’s trendy Belltown neighborhood.
Blocks from Pike Place Market, the Elara opened six years ago with a lush private courtyard, a gym and wine storage lockers. The building is full of Amazon workers who pay more than $2,000 a month for a one-bedroom to live near the company’s headquarters.
But this upscale building with a rooftop deck overlooking the Puget Sound（普吉特海灣） recently transformed into something more likely to conjure images of high-rise public housing in the US or Soviet-style concrete housing blocks: government-owned housing for low-and middle-income renters.
Seattle believes the affordable housing model has left a void for middle-class households that earn too much to qualify for housing lotteries, but too little to pay for a market-rate apartment. The city’s solution is to create a social-housing model inspired by Vienna, where roughly half of residents across a wide range of incomes live in government-subsidized homes.
It’s not the traditional public housing the federal government built for low-income households during the 20th century. It’s also not affordable housing, privately-owned developments built with government subsidies and tax credits in exchange for below-market rents.
VOCABULARY & PHRASES
- eight-story: 8層樓
Recently the construction of a new 50-story building has been approved.
最近一棟新的50層樓建築的建造已經被許可了。 - 150-unit: 150戶；150居住單元
Building A in this complex has 30 units; building B has 40.
這個社區A棟有30戶，B棟有40戶。 - sleek: 時髦的
This is a sleek, modern building. - blocks from: 距離...幾個街區
My home is just blocks from Taoyuan Train Station.
我家離桃園火車站只有幾個街區。 - luch: 茂盛的；豪華的
- courtyard: 中庭
a luch private countryard
豪華的私人中庭 - wine storage lockers: 酒窖櫃
- upscale: 高端的
Upscale ingredients call for the simplest cooking methods.
高端的食材往往只需要最樸素的烹飪方式 - rooftop deck: 頂樓露臺
Rooftop decks look romantic but are prone to water leaks.
屋頂露台雖然浪漫，但很容易漏水。 - overlook: 眺望
You can overlook the Pacific Ocean from this spot. - conjure images of: 使人聯想到
Walking in the hot summer afternoon on this path conjures images of my student life.
在炎熱的夏日午後走在這步道上令我想起學生時期的生活。 - high-rise: 高層樓的
We can have a meal at a high-rise restaurant in Taipei 101. - void: 真空
- housing lotteries: 住房抽籤
- market-rate: 市場行情的
The rent is at market rate.
這租金符合市價 - social-housing model: 社會住宅模式
Social housing models have become a prominent political strategy in recent years. - Vienna: 維也納
- subsidize [ˈsʌbsɪdaɪz]: 補貼
Subsidized policies are often the least effective public solutions. - government-subsidized homes: 政府補貼住宅
It is difficult to qualify for government-subsidized housing. - privately-owned developments: 私有開發
- tax credits: 稅務抵減
Dividend income is eligible for an 8.5% tax credit.
股利所得享有 8.5% 的稅額扣抵 - in exchange for: 換取
- below-market rents: 低於市場行情的租金
沒有留言:
張貼留言