75- Lottery

Woodstock Commons- A Housing Lottery.

On Feb. 5, 2009, Kevin O'Connor said there would not be a state lottery for Woodstock Commons. Hmmm. As far as I know, there will be a lottery, and it will be open to every person in the state who qualifies. How is that NOT a state lottery?

Please use the comments section to help me out.

Looking for statistics on housing lotteries, I found this one from 2007, Brooklyn:

Dunn Development Corporation, a private developer, and the Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation, a non-profit community-based organization. There was a lottery process for potential renters.

"The lottery lasted for about eight weeks. In this case we saw 6,000 applications for 33 units of housing," said NEBHD Corp. CEO Jeffery Dunston.

Let's do the math: there was one unit for every 182 applications.

Of course, things won't necessarily be that bad back at ole Woodstock Commons; they could be worse. Kevin O'Connor wrote a letter to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal back in 2005, offering to refer hundreds or possibly over a thousand wait listed people to Woodstock Commons.

Add to those referrals all the wannabe artists who'd kill to live in "the colony of the arts." Mmm, all that fresh air, four buses per day to NYC, plenty of intellectual stimulation. Hey, maybe I will leave the city and go live in Woodstock. Wait a minute, I already did.

Know what? I would love to have more city people for neighbors. Well, I'm in luck because this lottery that Kevin O'Connor does not want you to think is a state lottery really IS a state lottery. So what's to stop me from inviting all my artsy and senior friends up for the day to apply? They could get lucky and so could I, and I could get some of my neighbors back.

And for that matter, what's to stop every person in and around Woodstock from inviting five people up for a day or overnight to apply for Woodstock Commons?

Somebody could make a video about Woodstock Commons with application information, on youtube.

Today a friend told me that somebody could post an ad for Woodstock Commons on craigslist. Well, why not?

How many applicants do you think there will be?

Please share with me your method of calculating your estimate. Please use the comments area.

I know! Let's make this a contest: The person who submits the best estimate (including method of calculation) will "win." Please note that the "best" estimate is the one I like the best, not the one closest to the real number, since there is a non-zero probability that the number will be zero.

Please note that my contest is a contest, not a lottery, and that it is open to everybody on earth, except employees of RUPCO.