On Thursday, the Fair Share Housing Center hosted a keynote and panel discussion on affordable housing in New Jersey and the state’s landmark Mount Laurel Doctrine that outlaws exclusionary zoning and requires all towns to develop a “fair share” of low- and medium income units.
The speakers described both the accomplishments and the challenges over the last 50 years. According to the center, New Jersey is developing more affordable housing than ever before. Since 2015, New Jersey’s annual affordable housing production has nearly doubled, they said, providing safe and healthy housing to more than 50,000 people over the last eight years.
“We give the keys to mothers who have lived in public housing with their mothers and their mothers, who now have a backyard and a key to the house,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka of his city’s efforts. “It’s enormous, and they break out in tears. And anytime we have an opportunity for these programs, there are lines all the way down the street and around the corner.”
Still, barriers remain, the mayor and others said, and Fair Share Housing Center estimated 200,000 more units still need to be built to meet the current housing needs.
