As National Review’s Jeremy Carl points out, while “conservatives are busy being distracted by the latest liberal newly invented ‘culture war’ over bathrooms, liberals are attacking the entire concept of community self-governance in America.”
Mind you liberals have always hated the suburbs for a variety of reasons—they’re too white, too affluent, too mobile, too harmful to the environment. So— all too eager to build his legacy on the way out the door— President Obama and his administration are taking finite steps to remake the suburbs in thei utopian image with the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule (AFFH):
AFFH undercuts the independence of suburbs, towns, and small cities by forcing them to make up for supposed “imbalances” in the racial, ethnic, and class composition of their greater metropolitan regions. Under AFFH, the many suburbs and towns that take grant money from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will be forced to change their zoning codes and build high-density, low-income housing for “underrepresented” groups. Suburbs may even be forced to relocate planned schools, transportation hubs, and business districts to answer to the federal bureaucracy’s ideas of ethnic, racial, and economic “balance.” Basically, the Obama administration wants to punish, control, and fundamentally transform communities that, in its estimation, are too white or too affluent.
Now if the Obama administration eggheads would their uptight heads out of their uptight (insert body part yourself), they might realize that 1) minorities are flocking to the suburbs anyway because it’s too expensive to live downtown and 2)—-as Antiplanner points out— any plan to build high-density housing in the suburbs is itself racist:
This remedy is based on two fallacies. First, it assumes that high-density housing is more affordable than single-family housing, when in fact it costs more per square foot and only saves money if people are willing to sacrifice space and privacy. Second, the rule assumes that it is somehow “fair” to pack low-income minorities in apartments while higher-income whites get to live in single-family homes so long as the apartments and single-family homes are in the same municipalities. This is far more racist than the current situation.
People—white, black, Hispanic, Muslim, Asian—-people— —-want space. They want privacy. They want quiet. They want mobility. Apparently that’s too much to ask from this administration. I’d say it’s not soon enough for our country to be rid of Obama and his lackeys if not for the unfortunate choice facing us come November.
