It’s illegal to discriminate against minorities in U.S. housing markets. It’s illegal to discriminate against old people. It’s illegal (I think) to discriminate against people on the basis of sexual orientation. But it’s OK to discriminate against families with children. Indeed, it’s perfectly acceptable for local governments to institutionalize that discrimination with their zoning codes.
A case in point comes from Goochland County. This comes from the Goochland Courier:
COURTHOUSE VILLAGE — Not that long ago, when developers’ representatives presented residential rezoning applications, they told the Goochland County Planning Commission and the board of supervisors that the homes their clients planned to build would sell for more than $400,000. People who buy homes in that price range, they contended, rarely sent their children to county schools.
The problem, according to the Courier, is that things have changed. Houses in that price range are being purchased by families with children — and Goochland schools are coping with higher-than-expected enrollments.
Hmmm. Maybe Goochland supervisors can solve the problem by permitting only houses that cost $1 million or more.
