All carrot, 'no stick' in Biden's affordable housing plan

[DonViejo]

The housing component of the president's massive infrastructure proposal envisions communities voluntarily changing regulations to compete for new pots of money to support growth.

April 3, 2021, 6:00 AM EDT
By Jonathan Allen

WASHINGTON — On the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump warned that Joe Biden would "abolish the suburbs" by forcing them to change housing regulations. Instead, as part of his $2 trillion "American Jobs Plan," President Biden is offering them cash to open their gates voluntarily.

"It's purely carrot, no stick," said a White House official who has worked on the policy.

More broadly, Biden's proposal would inject $213 billion — more than three times the Housing and Urban Development Department's annual budget of about $60 billion — into developing, maintaining and retrofitting affordable units over the next eight years, including both public projects and lower-rent private residences. That spending would be for both new and existing homes in cities, suburbs and small towns.

Subsidies are necessary, Democrats say, because the demand for cheap housing far outstrips the available stock, federal rental-assistance coffers only support about a quarter of the eligible population and it's not currently profitable for developers to build lower-cost units.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/all-carrot-no-stick-biden-s-affordable-housing-plan-n1262907

[True Blue American]

1. The suburbs have been

Integrated for 50 years now. No one even thinks anything about it.

[Phoenix61]

2. There's a lot to be said for doing infill and

making the tri or quad pieces. Splitting lots and putting smaller homes on them. When you look at historical neighborhoods there are homes of all different sizes. The idea that anyone needs a 5,000 sqft home is insane. I’m currently in a home built in 1948 that was originally a 3/1 with a small kitchen, dining room, and living room. People raised entire families in these!