Home ownership is a part of the American dream. However, over the past few decades, those who already own homes have made it significantly harder for those who don’t to recognize that dream. Through NIMBY (not in my backyard) and zoning laws, the ability of new housing to be built in certain areas has been impeded to the point where the vast majority of Americans can’t afford to live in the largest cities. You have to look no further than San Francisco or my hometown of New York City to see how true this is.
We need to make it easier for people to afford housing - either renting or buying - in more localities. In order to do this, we need to recognize that homeowners in an area generally have more power with local legislators and start taking the needs of renters and those who would be interested in moving into areas into account.
Problems to be Solved
- checkZoning laws have made the creation of affordable housing impossible in areas that are most in need of new housing, driving workers for those areas to multi-hour commutes.
- Housing is eating up more and more Americans’ budgets and making it impossible to get ahead. There are ways to provide much more affordable housing but they require new approaches to zoning and development. If we relaxed zoning laws in certain areas it would enhance productivity and allow us to create many more affordable housing options.
Goals
- checkMake housing more affordable
As President I will...
- Work with localities to relax zoning ordinances for the purpose of increasing the development of affordable housing.
- Encourage the building of new innovative housing options like micro-apartments and communal living for people in high-density urban areas.