Many suburbs resort to building codes, zoning, planning and subdivision ordinances in a veiled effort to prevent construction of new housing intended for the poor. To encourage such projects, so the tired argument runs, would hurt the neighborhood and overload its schools. Washington has long avoided making a direct challenge to such local rules. But last week the Nixon Administration asked Congress to prohibit local governments from using their power to control land use in ways that thwart construction of federally subsidized housing for low-or moderate-income families. The legislation would hit suburbs hard,...
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