Dear Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and Campaign Team:

     We, the undersigned, urge you to amend your proposed housing plan. The following includes a list of problems with the current plan, as well as proposed solutions to improve it. We are deeply concerned about the plan as it is currently written.

Your current plan proposes:

• Build 3 million new homes and rental units (there is a vague requirement for housing development to be "innovative").
• Cut "red tape" to enable more expedient development.

Problems with the current plan:

• There is nothing about sustainable community development embedded into it.
  • The vast majority of renters currently have nowhere to legally grow food - we are relegated to our windowsills and porches IF we live on the south side of the building. We don't have access to hoses, so we have to shuttle water from our sink to our porch which gets frustrating and ridiculous pretty quickly.
  • Under your current plan, land that could be used for community garden spaces will be bulldozed and eaten up for real estate development. This is already a huge problem in urban areas, and those of us who are speaking up about it have no national or statewide political advocacy. Please - we need your help.
  • New rental properties won't require solar panels, which could otherwise help reduce renters' electricity bills.
• For people with lower incomes - who won't be able to afford new housing - wilderness areas will be bulldozed, and land that could be used for community projects will instead become used up, burying us deeper into the concrete jungle. :(  Relevant song: "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bdMSCdw20
• New rentals will very likely be offered at current market value or more (because they're "new"). For renters or the growing number of people moving into our vehicles, this plan offers us more rental units to choose from, which is not easy to get excited about.
• Rental payments will still not be reported to the credit bureaus. Imagine how many renters would qualify for a home loan by now if their rental payments had been reported. 

Solutions that should be added to Harris's plan:

• For every new rental property that is put up, local governments must be required to zone to guarantee access to gardening space for tenants. Access to spigots and hoses need to be provided.
• Solar panels must be required on all new rental properties in order to reduce electricity costs for tenants. Current "mega-rentals" (large rental properties) should be incentivized or required to put up solar panels in order to reduce tenants' electricity bills (which, effectively, is part of rent).
• Require landlords to report rental payments to the credit bureau in order to help lower classes build our credit scores quicker.
• Create a plan for homeless people to have access to tiny homes and community garden spaces. Not everyone fits perfectly into the business world. Sweeping them off the streets or throwing them on cots inside shelters is harmful and inconsiderate. Not all of them will want to garden, but we can still create housing spaces where they can access garden spaces that are tended by those who love gardening. Hire a couple horticulture specialists to help oversee and manage the project so it doesn't get out of hand. A lot of homeless people are very intelligent and would love a place to legally stick seeds in the ground, but instead people assume the worst of them, saying things like "Homeless people have big problems and can't take care of themselves." Some have problems, and some just need access to resources so they can better take care of themselves. We need more humanitarian values in this society when it comes to helping the homeless. Consideration for the homeless needs to be included in your plan.

Thank you for reading this. We support your campaign and appreciate that you're trying to help the people, and sincerely hope you will amend your housing plan to help all of us.