President Biden’s War on the Suburbs
Owning your own home in the community you live in is the American Dream.
By Mario M. Kranjac
The Biden Administration is waging war on the American dream by working to destroy suburbs across America. It’s happening in my community, and it will happen in yours too.
As the Mayor of Englewood Cliffs, NJ, I’ve personally fought to protect land that the state has demanded be converted into state-subsidized apartment buildings in the name of so-called “affordable housing.” I’ve fought this fight for over five years in a heavily Democratic town.
The truth is, these politicians who force affordable housing mandates on our communities, don’t actually care about providing affordable housing for our most vulnerable. They would rather build Soviet-style apartment blocks that pay developers than help low income individuals and families achieve home ownership.
Affordable housing mandates are a land grab, money grab, and vote grab by politicians and their friends.
Since the Obama administration, the Left has claimed that suburbs are a form of “structural racism” and today’s White House says single-family home zoning contributes to racial segregation by not allowing the development of state-subsidized apartment buildings. President Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan even incentivizes state and local governments to remove critical zoning laws in a haphazard attempt to prove they’re not racist.
Of course, there’s no regard for the people who already live in these neighborhoods through hard work and savings. In my town, politicians were giddy to help line the pockets of greedy developers and their affordable housing plan was launched without the proper consideration of the people who live in our community. The home values of our residents will be re-allocated to a developer and its political sponsors just as has happened throughout New Jersey since the 1980s.
Everyone should be able to work hard, afford their own home, put down roots and invest in the community where they live. In fact, owning your own home in the community you live in is the American Dream.
Every American should have the opportunity to pursue this path, and that’s why renting should only be seen as a stepping stone on the path to homeownership.
