The term “Poor Door” has been recently used in articles reporting on mixed-income developments in several major cities – New York City, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. The “Poor Door” refers to a separate entrance for the property’s subsidized tenants, and has been proposed by some developers (some successfully and some not successfully) when required to add affordable units to market-rate projects in order to increase site density. The term and concept have sparked quite a bit of controversy, not surprisingly.

We thought you might find the pieces linked below interesting. Have any of you had any experience with this issue?

• NYC lets developer build apartment complex with separate “Poor Door” (Talking Points Memo)
• West Hollywood commission votes against “Poor Door” housing development (L.A. Times)
• When separate doors for the poor are more than they seem (Washington Post)