“Just because
others flee crime-ridden and poverty-stricken areas doesn’t mean
Montgomery County has to be turned into a slum to accommodate them”
The New York Times reported on the anti-affordable housing protests that took place at a recent council meeting in Montgomery County, one of the richest areas in the country with a median income of nearly $100,000; the median home price is more than $400,000. The cost of living is so expensive that, according to a recent survey, nearly half the county’s employees live elsewhere. It’s also among the most liberal counties in the United States, voting for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016 by a margin of 4 to 1.
The protestors were up in arms over a modest proposal to increase the availability of affordable housing units by allowing homeowners to establish small apartment in their backyards or in the basements of their residence. The measure passed, but not without vocal opposition from wealthy homeowners who worried that the increase in affordable housing units could lead to “flophouses,” and “boxcars” with loud music, or an especially horrific scenario involving “strangers walking by your house all the time.” More than 1500 people signed an online petition to block the “dramatic” changes that would “alter the appearance, density and value of our neighborhoods.”
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