{"id":1523570,"date":"2022-06-20T08:19:41","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T12:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1523570"},"modified":"2022-06-20T08:19:54","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T12:19:54","slug":"push-for-high-density-housing-rooted-in-racial-and-environmental-agendas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/push-for-high-density-housing-rooted-in-racial-and-environmental-agendas\/","title":{"rendered":"Push for High-Density Housing Rooted in Racial and Environmental Agendas"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpush-for-high-density-housing-rooted-in-racial-and-environmental-agendas%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1523570&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Biden administration is encouraging local municipalities across the nation to change zoning rules to create higher-density neighborhoods. The plan has elements of the racial and environmental agendas Biden has been advancing on most fronts.<\/p>\n<p>The Housing Supply Action <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2022\/05\/16\/president-biden-announces-new-actions-to-ease-the-burden-of-housing-costs\/\">Plan<\/a>, announced in May, aims to ease housing costs by increasing the housing supply in every community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the most significant issues constraining housing supply and production is the lack of available and affordable land, which is in large part driven by state and local zoning and land use laws and regulations that limit housing density,\u201d a May 16 White House statement announcing the plan said. \u201cExclusionary land use and zoning policies constrain land use, artificially inflate prices, perpetuate historical patterns of segregation, keep workers in lower productivity regions, and limit economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the plan, the administration will pressure jurisdictions to rewrite zoning and land-use policies to increase density, by tying federal grant applications to zoning.<\/p>\n<p>For example, this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) gave higher scores for competitive grants totaling nearly $6 billion to jurisdictions that have implemented land-use policies to promote higher density. And, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) evaluates grant applications in part by EDA\u2019s environmentally sustainable development investment priorities, which already include \u201cinfill development\u201d\u2014that is, new construction on land between existing buildings. Now it will add prioritization of projects that increase density in other ways.<\/p>\n<h2>Connecting Zoning to Racism and Climate<\/h2>\n<p>The Zoning laws are intertwined with climate change and racial justice, according to Sara Bronin, a professor at Cornell University\u2019s Department of City and Regional Planning and associated faculty at Cornell Law School who specializes in land use and sustainable development.<\/p>\n<p>She is the founder of Desegregate Connecticut, a self-described pro-home coalition of neighbors and nonprofits advocating for more equitable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable land-use policies in Connecticut and focused on expanding diversity in the housing stock.<\/p>\n<p>Minimum lot reform could foster more equitable, sustainable communities, according to Desegregate Connecticut, because building closer together reduces consumption of resources, reliance on automobiles, and climate risks of sprawl and deforestation.<\/p>\n<p>Smaller lot sizes mean more affordable options for owning or renting, Desegregate Connecticut says. The group also advocates for transit-orientated communities, which are affordable housing developments built near public transport facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Bronin advocates for government-owned, multi-family housing buildings that would cut down greenhouse gas emissions by minimizing car use.<\/p>\n<p>Bronin did not respond to The Epoch Times\u2019 request for comment on Biden\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n<p>According to Noah Kazis\u2014a nonresident senior fellow with the left-leaning Brookings Institution, a Washington-based nonprofit public policy organization\u2014current zoning, which he calls \u201cexclusionary zoning,\u201d not only harms the environment, but it also reduces the supply and drives up the cost of housing, hurting individuals looking for homes, as well as the overall economy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRestrictive zoning fuels racial and economic segregation, serving as the mechanism for exclusion and \u2018opportunity hoarding\u2019 by wealthy, white communities,\u201d Kazis writes in an article for the Brookings Institution.<\/p>\n<p>Homebuilders support relaxing zoning rules to allow for higher density.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cZoning changes will benefit builders because if you have a four-acre lot and you can put four houses on there, one per acre, you\u2019ll make more money than if it\u2019s sold where you could only put one house on four acres. There are places in the country where the zoning requirements are such that you have to have very, very large building lots,\u201d Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, told The Epoch Times. \u201cThat\u2019s not the most efficient way to do it, and some of those places aren\u2019t even in rural America; they\u2019re in suburban America areas that are just trying to preserve what they call \u2018their way of life.\u2019 Zoning is an issue that is very much a linchpin for what the cost of housing will be in any location.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No matter how homebuyers feel about fewer single-family homes and more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-apartments\">apartments<\/a> and duplexes in the housing market, higher density is profitable for those in the housing industry, who are fully behind the zoning changes.<\/p>\n<p>The National Association of Realtors (NAR) supports Biden\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor too long, land-use restrictions have driven up the cost of housing for too many,\u201d NAR said in a statement in May in response to the announcement of the Housing Supply Action Plan. \u201cNAR supports policies encouraging states and localities receiving federal dollars to explore high-density zoning and other land-use rules that lock out families. We also support new grant programs for localities to enact pro-housing policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Move to Government-Owned Housing<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4294975\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/22\/LB-Apartments-6_JF_11012021-1200x796.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4294975 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/02\/22\/LB-Apartments-6_JF_11012021-1200x796.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"640\" height=\"425\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Apartments in Long Beach, Calif., on Nov. 1, 2021. (John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times)<\/figure>\n<p>But Tom DeWeese, president of the American Policy Center and an advocate of individual liberty and property rights, warns that this \u201csmart growth\u201d is a political agenda designed to control people.<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s plan encourages construction of more multi-family homes, including duplexes, townhomes, and apartments. DeWeese says environmentalists want people living in closer quarters, using less land.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they get you living in a high-rise apartment instead of in your own single-family neighborhood, they can control your transportation\u2014where you go. Smart meters can control the energy that you use in your apartment building. Smart meters will tell them all of your habits, how many people are living there, all kinds of information like that comes through them being able to read how you\u2019re using energy,\u201d DeWeese told The Epoch Times. \u201cWhat you\u2019ll end up having, as time goes by, is energy curfews\u2014that at 10 o\u2019clock at night, the energy will be shut off. I know this sounds nuts, but this is behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even now, DeWeese says, apartment complexes are being built without parking spaces. The goal, he says, is to have stores and jobs within walking distance and eliminate the need for cars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery single program that\u2019s being put in place now, in a major or minor way, is all based on cutting back on that carbon footprint,\u201d DeWeese said. Most apartments have private landlords, but more regulations are harming them. \u201cLandlords are going out of business like crazy. Ultimately what will happen is, all housing will be government housing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s plan says it will ensure a greater supply of government-owned homes, and it offers several funding mechanisms to encourage more multifamily housing.<\/p>\n<p>DeWeese says government-owned housing would lower the standard of living.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThink about the low-income people who are already living in government housing, and you hear the horror stories of what they\u2019re living with,\u201d DeWeese said. \u201cThe heat and air conditioning doesn\u2019t work. Broken windows aren\u2019t fixed. There are gangs and all kinds of drug dealers and criminals that are hanging out. Danger everywhere. Why? Because the landlord there is a government bureaucrat who can care less. If you have a private landlord, he cares about his property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The government should want people to own their own homes, DeWeese says, because private ownership is how people build wealth and stimulate a healthy economy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow does the average person build their own personal wealth? Working a job every day isn\u2019t going to make you rich. It\u2019s sustenance. To build wealth, so that you have money to enjoy and to retire on, private property ownership is the means,\u201d DeWeese said. \u201cYou start with a smaller home, you end up buying a bigger one. They always gain in value. And that\u2019s how you build personal wealth. And when you begin to cut that out, then people are just subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople living in single-family homes and people living in rural areas are both independent people, \u201c DeWeese said. \u201cThese create the middle class. And if people are independent, they\u2019re independent of [government] control. You have to look at this as to, who is doing this and what their motivation is. We\u2019re dealing with people working on government control in every aspect of our lives. Radical statement, I understand. Prove me wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-beth-brelje\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Beth.jpeg\" alt=\"Beth Brelje\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Beth Brelje is an investigative journalist covering Pennsylvania politics, courts, and the commonwealth\u2019s most interesting and sometimes hidden news. <\/p>\n<p>Send her your story ideas: Beth.brelje@epochtimes.us<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-matt-mcgregor\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Matt.jpeg\" alt=\"Matt McGregor\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Matt McGregor covers news from North and South Carolina for The Epoch Times. Send him your story ideas:<br \/>\nmatt.mcgregor@epochtimes.us\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Biden administration is encouraging local municipalities across the nation to change zoning rules to create higher-density neighborhoods. The plan has elements of the racial and environmental agendas Biden has<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1523570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1523570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1523570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1523570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1523570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}