State Green Party Press Release

Rhode Island - Gerritt for Mayor

Gerritt: Turn Tires into Housing.

GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE FOR PROVIDENCE MAYOR
Contact: GREG GERRITT, (401) 331-0529 or office (401) 490-7602
Tim McKee, Green Party Co-Chair (401) 273-2763

GERRITT WOULD TURN TIRES INTO HOUSING

Greg Gerritt, Green Party candidate for Mayor of Providence, has focused extensively on the affordable housing crisis in Providence throughout the campaign and today announced a new innovative proposal.

Proposals Gerritt has offered include:
1. Using abandoned factories to build prefab housing that can be placed on vacant lots.
2. Getting the city to expedite the transferring of vacant lots and abandoned buildings to Community Development Corporations (CDCs)
3. Only using tax breaks for affordable housing.

Today, Gerritt unveiled another proposal, one that seeks to solve two of Providence's major problems simultaneously. He said "Providence has a major problem with abandoned tires, any low spot in the city is full of them, and even the ones that are properly disposed of really are only moved to another location. More and more cities around the world are finding that turning tires into housing provides affordable housing at a very low cost. Earth filled tires, nicknamed "Earthships" have been used all over the world to build low cost and super energy efficient buildings, meeting all building codes and planning regulations."

Gerritt added "The City of Providence is broke enough that anything we do to solve major problems must be addressed to solving several major concerns at once. What could be better than turning the trash that blights our neighborhoods and pollutes our rivers into low cost energy efficient housing. Especially now that it is clearly demonstrated that these buildings can meet building codes. People may be taken back by the idea, but these buildings have a 30 year history and have proven to be very good places to live. Our vacant lots cry out for new low cost housing, housing that can be built by folks in the neighborhood, even people without many building skills. This is our opportunity."