Toothless: An Analysis of the Efficacy of New Jersey’s Affordable Housing Policy
Sarah Fletcher
25 March 2015
As the first state to pass a comprehensive anti-discrimination statute after the Reconstruction Era, New Jersey has a demonstrated commitment to civil rights. This commitment, coupled with several characteristics unique to the “Garden State,” has laid the groundwork for, what is arguably, the most contentious affordable housing debate in the country. New Jersey is the only state in which there is a judicially recognized constitutional mandate that all municipalities provide for a “realistic opportunity for the construction of [their] fair share of the present and prospective regional need for low and moderate income housing,” however, enforcement of this mandate has proven to be nearly impossible.
This paper will take a broad approach to analyzing the specific issues currently plaguing the state of affordable housing in New Jersey. Part I provides historical context for the affordable housing debate, explaining how racially discriminatory federal government policies led to racial and economic segregation in New Jersey and across America today. Part II describes the legal framework which has developed over the last forty years to address the resulting affordable housing need in New Jersey, collectively known as the Mount Laurel Doctrine. Part III details the obstacles which have hindered the full implementation of the Mount Laurel Doctrine, including the current controversy over the promulgation of regulations to enforce the Doctrine. Taking a step back, Part IV explores how other states have approached the affordable housing issue, and considers which policies should be imported to New Jersey. Finally, in Part V, specific recommendations will be made for implementing the essence of the Mount Laurel Doctrine, while acknowledging the concerns of the Doctrine’s many vocal opponents.
New Jersey is positioned between two of the biggest cities in the country – New York City and Philadelphia – so it is hardly surprising that New Jersey is also the most densely populated state in America. At one time, a majority of the land in New Jersey was used for farming. Today, some farmland remains, but much of it has been replaced with residential and commercial development. Having been located between two big cities, New Jersey was primed for the boom of suburbanization that began in the earlier half of the twentieth century.
To address the national housing crisis resulting from the Great Depression, several programs administered by the newly created Federal Housing Administration were implemented to insure and refinance mortgages and encourage homeownership in suburban America. Loans were generally granted to white applicants, and they were to be used to purchase homes in white neighborhoods. This practice, known as “red-lining,” led to the onset of “white-flight” from the nation’s cities. During this time, sixty percent of the homes purchased in the United States were financed by these types of discriminatory loans. The “success” of these and other discriminatory programs came at the expense of the minority community. When white city-dwellers took advantage of government sponsored opportunities to move to the suburbs, they took with them a substantial portion of the cities’ economic resources, leaving behind a racially segregated and economically disadvantaged population.
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Toothless: An Analysis of the Efficacy of New Jersey’s Affordable Housing Policy