Affordable housing in New Jersey

Guests: Andrew Seidman, Jeffrey Surenian, Kevin Walsh

The Mount Laurel doctrine, a series of court rulings decided in the 1970s and 80s, requires towns in New Jersey to provide their “fair share” of affordable housing. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that municipalities must zone for low and middle-income housing.  Since the Mount Laurel rulings, some 65,000 homes have been built in New Jersey.  The law has also had profound effects across the nation. But in recent years, it has come under fire in the Garden State in a dispute involving Governor Christie, the Council on Affordable Housing, fair housing advocates and municipalities. Today we’ll take a closer look at the landmark law, the impact it has had in New Jersey and across the nation, and examine the current controversy with ANDREW SEIDMAN, reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer in the Trenton bureau, KEVIN WALSH, an attorney with Fair Share Housing Center, and JEFFREY SURENIAN, an attorney whose firm currently represents over 40 municipalities across the state New Jersey in affordable housing matters.