Our 4-episode podcast, Housing for All, outlines the two major ideas of reforming our housing system:
- Housing for all is an achievable goal because other countries have succeeded in creating equitable housing systems. We can learn from solutions that have proven themselves in the real world and adapt them to the US.
- We would not even have to raise taxes to achieve housing for all. We already spend enough money to ensure a great home for everyone.
Our podcast, YouTube channel, and blog/newsletter focus on two issues:
- We reveal the tragedies that occur everyday in our housing system. Too many do not realize that a catastrophe like an eviction or foreclosure could happen to anyone, that even people who have acted totally responsibly sometimes lose their home and have their life upended.
- We explore what it’s like to live in housing arrangements based around people’s need for shelter and community, rather than profits.
We recommend these books as an introduction to the problems of our housing system:
- Evicted by Matthew Desmond (rental housing; our review)
- Chain of Title by David Dayen (homeownership; our review)
- The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, a documentary by Chad Friedrichs, is an excellent introduction to the issues facing American public housing. For those interested in learning much more, Public Housing Myths, edited by Vale, Bloom and Umbach goes into these same issues in greater detail. We review both here.