In Germany, rental leases for apartments last forever, until the tenant wants to move out. It’s common for people to live for decades in the same rented apartment, and it’s even possible for children to inherit a rental lease when their parents pass on. Apartments are high quality and well-maintained. Read more…
Rental housing in the US is extremely insecure. Per data from the Census Bureau, over the past decade, between one in four and one in five renter households moved every year. The 2013 American Housing Survey (also done by the Census Bureau) found that just over 50% of renters had Read more…
The amazing story of New York State’s most successful affordable housing program! I interview Dick, a resident of a Mitchell-Lama limited equity housing cooperative. None of my friends know what “limited equity” or “housing cooperative” mean. But don’t let vocab words scare you off! In all of New York City, Read more…
The good: As a true crime book, Chain of Title is gripping. Even those without an interest in housing issues will find it engrossing. The bad: Dayen does not suggest any solutions, and a reader will put down the book doubting whether the problems it identifies can even be fixed. Read more…
The good: The Pruitt-Igoe Myth and Public Housing Myths are both excellent introductions to the basic problem with public housing in the United States: the funding model simply does not work. A reader/viewer of either will understand that public housing could work in the U.S. if it was given a Read more…
The good: Evicted is riveting; the stories of the people Desmond follows are as compelling to read as any novel. Throughout, Desmond reports shocking data on rental housing in the US in a way that is neither dry nor preachy. The bad: Much of the most important information is buried Read more…
Housing for Us is a show about affordable housing. Half of our episodes will be Fixer-Upper episodes. Not everyone realizes just how desperately our housing system is in need of reform. We talk to people who have been through the worst of our housing system. Our housing system isn’t a Read more…