Summit, along with many suburban communities in the United States, adopted a policy of zoning ordinances requiring a single-family house on a large lot and could thereby "exclude any undesirable influences that might erode property values", a requirement that effectively excluded apartment buildings and multi-family dwellings, and tended to raise the price of houses. One study found that since 1945, the single-family house on a large lot zoning mechanism "has been increasingly used in suburban and rural areas to safeguard particular vested interests." A reporter from "The New York Times" who is a Summit resident criticized the city for being an "economically, racially and ideologically homogenized populace" with "a growing divide between Summit's haves and have-nots." He elaborated in 2006: "there's an ever-diminishing corner of the city akin to the so-called slums of Beverly Hills, where middle-income homeowners like me can take advantage of the schools and services of Summit without the million-dollar price tags so ubiquitous on the other side of the Midtown Direct tracks." But he preferred the city as a place to raise and educate his children. One developer sued the city in 2005 to comply with New Jersey's Fair Housing Act to provide more affordable housing units. The city is working on a "housing master plan" to avoid future lawsuits from developers. In 2011, volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, in conjunction with church groups including St. Teresa of Avila and the Unitarian Church led by Vanessa Southern, constructed affordable housing on Morris Avenue.