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Cardozo Law Review

Abstract

This Essay divides in two Parts. In Part I, I will situate the three fair housing interests in the familiar AFFH planning environment, offering arguments to shape context. The harder task is implementation. What constitutes the specific laws and policies that indicate a city's commitment to fair housing? In Part II, I will draw upon some of the work that the center I direct at Rutgers Law School (the Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity) has done in Newark, New Jersey, a working-class city experiencing an affordable housing crisis amid increasing economic development activity in the middle of one of the nation's most expensive metro areas. Newark is poised for gentrification. That Part of the discussion will focus on distinct areas for reform that attach to the three fair housing interests-antidiscrimination, anti-segregation, and housing stability. Thinking of fair housing in a city like Newark as an example may be counter-intuitive. After all, it is an overwhelmingly African American and Latino city, while most fair housing issues rely upon a dominant white presence. Yet, this is precisely why the Newark focus is instructive. It shows that forces within and without our cities can significantly impact housing opportunity for vulnerable populations no matter what the immediate demographic make-up is. Thus, my proposed framework of local fair housing reforms includes a civil right to counsel, rent regulation, inclusionary zoning, and increased enforcement against discrimination in housing voucher use and mortgage foreclosure. These are not tools available to cities on the basis of race, but rather re-tooled devices for belatedly addressing the housing crisis that has long reflected placebased inequality in metropolitan America.

Disciplines

Civil Rights and Discrimination | Education Law | Housing Law | Law

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