America's big cities are suffering from a "steady collapse of livability" — and wealthy liberals are to blame, according to The New York Times opinion columnist.
Farhad Manjoo, in commentary posted Wednesday, decried in particular the demise of a housing bill in his home state of California because of progressives' opposition to the construction in their own neighborhoods.
"Where progressives argue for openness and inclusion as a cudgel against President [Donald] Trump, they abandon it on Nob Hill and in Beverly Hills," he wrote.
"I'm struck by an unsettling thought," he wrote. "What Republicans want to do with ICE and border walls, wealthy progressive Democrats are doing with zoning" and an attitude of not-in-my-back-yard.
"Preserving 'local character,' maintaining 'local control,' keeping housing scarce and inaccessible — the goals of both sides are really the same: to keep people out," he wrote.
Manjoo noted the problem in America's big cities "is the steady collapse of livability," where "child care and education seem impossible for all but the wealthiest," and where the problems of "affordable housing and homelessness have surpassed all superlatives."
"Democrats on the 2020 presidential trail rarely mention their ideas for housing affordability, an issue eating American cities alive," he wrote. "I watched Joe Biden's campaign kick off the other day; the only house he mentioned was the White House."
"Creating dense, economically and socially diverse urban environments ought to be a paramount goal of progressivism," he added.
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