In August, New York State’s Westchester County entered an agreement that could result in dozens of towns and villages within its borders to aggressively promote fair housing.
The agreement, the result of a suit filed by the Anti-Discrimination Center, was brokered in part by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, stipulates that the county spend $50 million to get towns to build 750 housing units for low-and-moderate-income residents. Initially, the county claimed getting its towns to change zoning ordinances would be difficult, thus making it even more daunting of a task to build workforce and affordable housing, but the agreement was signed, emphasizing the lack of housing in small Westchester towns for blacks and Latinos. The agreement represents a sea change in philosophy, according to Ron Sims, the deputy secretary at HUD, who told The New York Times that the agreement was “consistent with the president’s desire to see a fully integrated society.”
