The Saratogian - NAACP: Housing in Saratoga is a racial issue

"There is no denying it any longer," Blanton [local NAACP president] wrote. "Those in power and influence have demonstrated a commitment to maintaining the current social, economic and housing characteristics within the city and are not to be
persuaded by the moral or compelling public purpose that affordable housing serves."

Right. Those in power like the un-ghettoness of the area. They like having a community of (a majority of) non-welfare, gainfully employed, middle (and way up) class people, high property values and a good, safe, standard of living for their citizens. HOW DARE THEY!!! They should be doing whatever they can to introduce more poor people into the environment.

"What are we going to do to make sure poor people, low-income people, and moderate-income people have housing in the city of Saratoga?" he asks.

Nothing! It's a pretty stupid question to ask. When someone comes up to you and asks "How to we make sure POOR PEOPLE can living in your neighborhood?" you kick them in the shin. Unless you are homeless, where poor people would raise the standard of living, nobody wants poor people in their area. Let's face it, it doesn't do much for a city (I still chuckle that they call Saratoga a "city"). South Florida, for example. As areas became more "integrated" and more "socio-economically" mixed, they became the LESS integrated and "socio-economically" mixed they became over time.

Ok.. so since this is an NAACP guy, poor people not being able to live in a middle to upper class city HAS to be racism.

"If you exclude classes of people, obviously there are a significant number of people of color who can't afford to live here," Stanley [VP of Saratoga NAACP] said.

So, why is he focusing on where they can afford to live, instead of ways to help them afford it? Job training, edumacation, skills training, etc... Don't whine that people want their area to keep a nice standard of living, and don't want to risk having much "low cost housing". Instead, concentrate on raising people standards of living so they don't NEED low cost housing.

And, this area isn't exactly "color"-ful. There are probably more lost-income white people than those of "color". The low income black families are likely the minority of the minority of low-income families. So, it's not a racist issue, it's a "If you want to live where I live, work hard and earn it" issue.