Cox Says Smart Growth Limits Homeownership

"African-American home ownership has risen in recent decades and is now near 50 percent. However, it seems likely the gap between white and African-American home ownership will expand in coming years."

"Moreover, the widening of that gap will be a direct result of policies that are pursued by interests that have often been allied with major African-American organizations."

"The problem is restrictive urban planning policies, more attractively labeled 'smart growth.' Smart growth seeks to control suburbanization (pejoratively called "urban sprawl") and has been pursued principally by liberals committed to the current orthodoxy of urban planning. The problem with smart growth is that it takes away opportunity through land rationing and other overly restrictive strategies that increase housing prices."

"Some metropolitan growth policies limit the amount of land that can be developed, raising its price--for example, those in some areas of California, as well as the cities of Portland, Oregon and Denver, Colorado."