The Problem of the Affordable Housing in America

Introduction

Every individual, family, or group has dreams of living a healthy and purposeful life. Their dream also encompasses the best facilities and accommodations wherein they could live their life. However, the idea has restricted its implications to different regions of the United States. The problem of affordable housing is always there in America. Many cities and towns are significantly engaged in discriminatory practices through the process of exclusionary zoning. The purpose of such zoning is to exclude the poor and low-income residents from their communities. Similarly, the neighborhood of the individual does not explain his position; instead, the surrounding people and the experiences of the individual’s life define it. The social attitudes that are mostly full of inequality and racially discriminatory practices also contribute to restraining poor families and increasing their morbidity. The progress of poor communities will not harm the image and the values contained by the suburbanites.

Discussion

The fear and the movements of the poor generation will have no link with drugs, next-door crime, and related issues. The education level operating in suburban areas will remain unchanged because poor people also require a standard education, which will allow them to upgrade their social and practical lives. The suffering of the images of the respective town has no connection with the weaker people of Latino and black minorities. The inclusion of the racial element in dealing with minorities is also pertinent in American society. Those families that are moving from their inner towns and cities to the suburbs receive such kinds of derogatory treatment from the suburbanites. The fears of these people are not supported by reliable factors. The facts include the thinking of poor people who think that they can get better schooling, jobs, and a non-violent community.

There are certain incomes in the towns with incomes as low as eight thousand dollars, while the median level of income is ten times higher for families with four members. The sociologist Douglas has written Climbing Mount Laurel, revealing that affordable housing for the poor has no influence on the residing society of particular people. He further explains that taxes, ratios of crimes, and the value of the property are also moving upwards, along with the suburbs residing near the respective community. However, he lamented that the lives of poor families, including the education of their children, have transformed by moving to society. The schools and the houses, along with certain modern facilities in the suburbs, are the same as those in Mount Laurel.

The social and economic backgrounds of the residents of both communities are also the same. Certain names and points are also the same and equal to Mount Laurel, which is present in the suburbs. People in this regard need to adjust their feelings that what is happening in the region of Mount Laurel can repeat in the area of a suburb (Bratt, 2014). The story of Mount Laurels started in nineteen seventy-five with the black residents who had to gather in the Jacob church. They face a severe problem because their weaker sleep farm was transformed into a wealthy suburb. In the said farm, black parishioners were unable to live, as it was expensive. They move to the chapel with the hope of building thirty-six gardens for the poor community, which could enjoy their life. Those back people who gathered heard the bad news, which said that if you could not live in our town with our expensive style, you would have to leave.

The announcement by the official has created much tension for those present there. The noble request by the individuals after the announcement turned into a protest movement many decades later. The local officials have fought the war as a struggle for affordable housing. Mount Laurel is a symbol of the struggle for socioeconomic integration and the development of suburbia. Many of the residents of the Mount Laurel the factor of the weaker and poor families is entirely irrelevant. The present rich and well-to-do people do not know that affordable homes exist in Mount Laurel. The phenomena of where one’s live shapes his identity is true in reality. One of the sociologists argues why Americans are not many individuals but are overwhelmed by the inequality in the neighborhood.

Those families that migrated to Mount Laurel have the privilege of earning around forty percent of the normal income. They can acquire more than the normal home. The families and the members can have a new lease on their lives. Other than poverty, they can provide the best and solid education to their children (Lake, 2017). There are a number of people who have not acquired a home due to the violence in their neighborhood. With less stress and depression along with the availabilities of best jobs, poor people have contributed much than that of nonresidents. The issue of zoning in American society is prevalent, and there are a number of problems associated with it.

Since the development and setting of the towns, zoning is the basic concept in the US community. The regulation of the zoning provides the number of facilities along with the public health, safety, and general welfare. The relationship between zoning and facilities gives broad deference to local governments. The zoning regulations provide certain special requirements. The land use is mostly planned in accordance with the needs of the community. Through the process of inclusionary zoning states, states’ efforts are to encourage commercial and residential developers to maintain affordable residences in any kind of development.

Without any financial burden, the idea of the inclusionary system for society encompasses the affordable availability of housing for the people. Those contractors or the developers have to afford the amount and cost of construction. The public has no such burden when facing financial costs. The population, through the inclusionary program, can integrate and decrease the sprawl. The system encourages mix-use development. The first movement of inclusionary zoning was initiated in the 1960s and seventies. Three main elements fought for the exclusionary zoning.

The problem and the issue with exclusionary zoning is that a number of communities have kept families with low income from moving with exclusionary zoning because they cannot face and bear the burden of expenses (Lee, 2016). They require minimum lot size and maximum floor size areas. They also demand limited multifamily residential areas. Such practices that were operating in the decades of nineteen sixty to seventy have major restraints in providing affordable housing to the present-day poor people of the American community. There are certain societies that have disguised the concept of exclusionary zoning for the purpose of preserving the character of the communities.

The issue of exclusionary zoning is not restricted to the people, but courts have also observed that denial of the process is based on the presence of regional base general welfare. In this way, municipalities were not able to use the power of the police, as general welfare was extended beyond the boundaries of the municipalities. Suck type of concern forces the courts to drag down the concept of exclusionary zoning. The court has ordered for the cities and the town to imply inclusionary zoning. Other than the services and contributions of the court, certain legislative bodies also have to try to fix the issue of zoning. Some banned the flatly exclusionary and implication of the discriminatory zoning practices.

In order to provide the community with affordable housing, communities will have to adopt the inclusionary regime of zoning. A comprehensive plan is also required for the provision of affordable housing. The fair share technique can best meet the needs of regional housing. Certain states are providing inclusionary zoning, and among those active, the judiciary fills the gap. Any program back by the legislative deserves the broad difference of the judiciary. Researchers are of the view that many families gravitate towards suburbia because they have better schools and less violence.

Studies also elaborate on the idea that individuals are not defined by the area where they live. Sometimes, it also happens that individual living is not defined because many people spend their investment in their experiences rather than investing in the mortgage in a neighborhood. Certain are the experiences that define and explain a person. The time that the individual spent soaking different cultures and analyzing the world from different perspectives. The person also has the ability to realize how other countries and states work.

Conclusion

Concluding the discussion it is worth mentioning that neighborhood, where the individual is residing, does not define who he is. Those people and their experiences are ultimately the factors that define the individual. Similarly, for the future consideration of inclusionary programs, there is an immediate need to advance the homebuilders. The practices and the implications of racial discrimination lead to the marginalization of poor families. The discussion also concludes that poor people will not harm the image and the values contained by the suburbanites.

References

Bratt, R. G., & Vladeck, A. (2014). Addressing restrictive zoning for affordable housing: Experiences in four states. Housing Policy Debate, 24(3), 594-636.

Lake, R. W. (2017). The new suburbanites: Race and housing in the suburbs. Routledge.

Lee, D. (2016). How Airbnb short-term rentals exacerbate Los Angeles’s affordable housing crisis: Analysis and policy recommendations. Harv. L. & Pol’y Rev., 10, 229.