(StraightNews.org) — The Biden administration has announced that all towns across the US will be required to submit “equity plans” showing how they intend to make it possible for low-income people to live there. The towns will need to prove they have the capacity for affordable housing as well as infrastructure. If towns can’t do so, they will lose federal funding. Critics say it is another attempt by the left to attack single-family homes and to bring government control into the housing market.
In New York and Connecticut, Democrats are fighting against local zoning laws to get the construction of high-rise buildings underway in quiet quaint neighborhoods. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has passed a law requiring each town and village in the state to increase its housing stock to the tune of a high-density apartment block within half a mile of every public MTA stop. It could mean the end of small towns in upstate New York.
Democrats argue that this represents equality and have also shoehorned racism into the debate. On Long Island, a group called ERASE Racism claims that housing on the island is segregated and has several campaigns running to demonstrate this. President of the group Laura Harding said she is fighting to rid Long Island of “structural racism and de facto segregation.”
Similarly, Habitat for Humanity is referring to “housing inequality” as a way for black Americans garner an advantage in the housing market. It calls for black families to receive down payment subsidies, an extension of mortgage and credit availability, and for government grants to be awarded along racial lines. Crucially, the group also references zoning laws, which they argue need to be changed so that large multi-occupancy buildings can be constructed to completely change the character of small American towns. On its website, Habitat states, “Zoning modifications like lowering minimum home- and lot-size requirements, permitting duplexes and triplexes, allowing apartments in more locations, and/or minimizing discretionary review processes help achieve this.”
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