Princeton’s SPIA in New Jersey Initiative Names Inaugural Garden State Fellows
Princeton of Public and International Affairs
September 6, 2024
Princeton of Public and International Affairs
From coast to coast, the United States is grappling with an unprecedented housing affordability crisis. Today, millions of families are teetering on the edge, wondering how they will keep a roof over their heads. An entire generation of young people worry they may never be able to afford a home. And as housing and rental prices rise faster than incomes, young and elderly Americans alike have been pushed to the brink of homelessness.
The city and the Asbury Park Housing Authority have had big plans for Lincoln Village and a neighboring vacant lot commonly known as “Home Plate” for over a year now, with little work to show for it. But now officials are hopeful to start construction by next summer.
Ongoing legal battles over affordable housing requirements are taking place in municipalities around New Jersey, but new expectations for development that state officials will hand out in a few months could trigger additional backlash — and reshape neighborhoods for years to come.
One of New Jersey’s wealthiest towns is being ordered to pay more than $100,000 in legal fees, following an effort to block affordable housing development there.
Instead of flushing taxpayer money down the drain fighting legally-mandated affordable housing, NJ’s local officials should invest in infrastructure — like sewer upgrades — that’ll benefit their towns for generations to come. In this new op-ed, Josh Bauers explains why towns like Millburn and Colts Neck are cutting off their nose to spite their face:
Peter O’Connor, Executive Director of the Fair Share Housing Development Center in Mount Laurel, NJ on Friday, July 19, 2024. In 1975, O’Connor won a landmark state court case that lead to requirements for low-to-moderate income housing in every municipality
In 1975, New Jersey’s Supreme Court ordered every town in the state to make way for multifamily housing. It’s been a long journey.
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Fair Share Housing Center is a nonprofit advocacy organization that uses legal, policy, and community-building strategies to fight for housing justice in New Jersey and beyond.
