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Social Justice Begins at Home Ownership - This is the Real Housing Crisis.
The Homestead Act, signed into law by Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862, the President who started a war and a political party to end slavery, allowed any adult citizen, or intending citizen, to claim 160 acres of public land as long as they lived on it and improved it for five years. It is time to revisit the Homestead Act 163 Years Later.
America’s Current Housing Problem
America was founded on the dream of homesteading — planting your flag, working the land, and building a family legacy through ownership, the greatest form of generational wealth transfer for most Americans.
The Sad Reality - today, that dream is slipping away. Over the last 50 years, home ownership has fallen from nearly 69% in 2004 to just 65.1% in 2025.
Home ownership rates and prices have not returned to pre-2008 crisis levels in many parts of this country, except in the wealthiest areas.
The monthly cost of owning a home has skyrocketed. Twenty years ago, average mortgage payments in parts of America were around $700–$1,200 a month. Today, the average payment is $2,715/month on a 30-year loan, and over $3,500/month on a 15-year loan.
Median monthly housing costs in 2024 were already $2,035–$2,225, making the American Dream nearly impossible for working families.
We are sending out an SOS — Save Our Single-Family Homes - A Roadmap for the Push to the November Election
The Policy Failure & Environmental Crisis (Yes Conservatives are Green Too)
Affordable housing rentals trap families in permanent tenancy and dependency, preventing wealth-building.
Government subsidies often fuel waste, fraud, and abuse, while first-time buyer credits inflate home prices which results in unaffordable housing or less money down or savings resulting in mortgage default.
Opportunity Zones, meant to revitalize communities, often invite speculation and insider deals, causing gentrification and displacement and a further eradication of the neighborhood charm.
The Clinton-era “NINJA” loans and Fannie/Freddie mortgage securitizations fueled the disastrous 2007–2008 housing crisis.
In places like Fairfield County, home values have rebounded since COVID — but middle-class affordability remains elusive as even middle-class families cannot afford to live in the neighborhoods they grew up in.
Connecticut Policy Threats
“Development as of Right” allows housing boards to approve housing projects without meaningful community input.
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) laws force multi-story apartment blocks into single-family neighborhoods, often as long as properties are within a certain radius of train stations or bus stops.
Additional Quality-of-Life & Environmental Harms
These policies ignore critical infrastructure, parking, and traffic considerations.
Increased traffic congestion from high-density development leads to longer commutes, more greenhouse gas emissions, and pollution to our waterways — contradicting environmentalist goals. Urban pollution is high and the tragedy of the commons is increased without sufficient green space for recreation.
Aging or inadequate sewage treatment systems worsen the situation, especially during storms — leading to sewage runoff, which contaminates waterways.
Public Health Impact: Beach Closings & Water Quality
Bridgeport beaches have been closed multiple times in 2025 due to high bacteria levels. For instance:
On June 25, 2025, beaches were closed due to high bacteria levels.
Again on August 13, 2025, beaches were closed for elevated bacterial contamination.
Across Southwest Connecticut, heavy rains have frequently triggered beach closures due to elevated bacteria levels, including at beaches like Calf Pasture (Norwalk), Shady Beach, and beaches in Westport, Milford, and West Haven.
Yes, even wealthy towns are not immune to dirty water for their children to swim in.
In the greater Long Island Sound, wet weather samples failed safe-swimming water-quality criteria 15.6% of the time in Connecticut over 2022–2024, up from 10.9% in 2020–2022.
The Solution: The New Homestead Act
Stake Your Claim: Towns provide land (via acquisition or eminent domain) for real ownership, not endless rent.
Ownership First: Families receive homes with affordable mortgages priced below local rents.
Wealth & Generational Wealth-Building: Every mortgage payment builds equity, not government dependency. Home Equity trumps rental payments to landlords.
Family Legacy: Homes may be transferred within the family anytime; resale outside the family allowed after 15 years.
Flexibility: Homes may be rented out if life circumstances change (job, family size, military deployment) so home ownership does not turn into a prison sentence of financial insecurity.
Jobs Creation & Oversight
Citizen Jobs Only: All construction jobs reserved for U.S. citizens.
No Prevailing Wage Mandates: Reduces costs, speeds development.
Public–Private Partnerships: Transparent and accountable partnership designed to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.
Opportunity Zone Advantage
Aligns with existing Federal Opportunity Zone incentives.
Redirects private capital into community wealth, not speculation.
Real Public Benefits — Not Bloated Bureaucracy and Subsidies for Failing Government Programs
✔ Families move from renting to owning and bestow pride in ownership to their children
The new home owner becomes the urban pioneer, revitalizes neighborhoods and cities and brings prosperity to underutilized and unutilized land
In dense areas homeowners can join forces to build condominiums
✔ Communities stabilize with long-term homeowners that re-invest in their community.
✔ Jobs and wealth stay more local.
✔ Reduced traffic/emissions compared to high-density sprawl.
✔ Cleaner water and fewer beach closures due to better infrastructure.
Conclusion: A Blueprint for American Homeownership
The November elections are coming — less than 50 days away, not counting early voting. This S.O.S must be the nation’s rallying cry.
The New Homestead Act connects the original ideals of homesteading with today’s urgent problems: skyrocketing housing costs, declining ownership, environmental degradation, and public health threats from sewage overflow and polluted beaches.
This is not gentrification. This is not speculation.
This is America’s S.O.S — Save Our Single-Family Homes.

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