“Vertical Sprawl”, by Ben Cappellacci is licensed by CC BY 2.0.

                Housing justice is an important topic in the United States, because of the impact housing policy has had on the housing market. Many policies have benefitted the rich and those holding property at the expense of renters and the poor. Working-class and poor families who struggle with rising rents also are being displaced due to gentrification which is driving the high cost of rents. This week’s readings addressed the problems of housing justice observed in the struggle of poor families throughout the country who face eviction. In the epilogue titled, “Home and Hope” of his book, Evicted: Property and Profit in the American City, Desmond examined the issues of housing justice using testimonies from several people who experienced eviction. While poor families are facing eviction, others enjoy large amounts of space in condos such as those on “billionaires’ row”.

                In Faulty Towers: Great Sprawl in the Sky, Samuel Stein examined the excess that the “super-rich”, the .01 percent, enjoy while most city residents struggle to find decent housing in a shrinking affordable housing market. What he referred to as vertical sprawl, he defined as “a spatial and social development pattern normally associated with suburban development, creating a niche of spacious high-priced luxury apartments” (Stein, 2021). Many of these apartments are not only unavailable to many city dwellers, but many also remain empty and unused. This demonstration of waste and excess is reminiscent of the neoliberal austerity period of the 1980s in which policies benefitted the rich at the expense of the working class. These condos use excessive space, while most people are forced to live in overcrowded conditions and squalor. It also reminds me of a tale of two cities, a city for the “super-rich” and one for the rest of us who cannot afford these luxurious high-rise apartments. Lastly, Schindler and Moyer’s “The Case for Truly Public Housing”, offers some successful examples of public housing such as Miller River located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They posed the argument that public housing should remain in the control of the public and not private developers to solve the affordable housing crisis.

                In his book, Desmond examined the struggle with housing justice using the testimonies of several people who suffered eviction. For example, he discussed the struggle of Arleen and Vanetta who had to dedicate 70 or 80 percent of their income to rent which made it impossible for them to provide for their children (Desmond, 2016, p.295). Most families are struggling because they pay well over thirty percent of their family budget for housing. Many of these families end up in eviction courts and out on the streets. The author presents the reader with the concept of home being the foundation of security and identity. According to Desmond, “the home is the center of life. It is a refuge from the grind of work, the pressure of school, and the menace of the street” (Desmond, 2016, p. 293). I agreed with his argument about how having a stable home life is needed for a sturdy foundation and is a building block of one’s personhood. He affirmed that having a place to live is a basic need everyone should have. However, for many people, home life is a constant struggle to pay the rent creating uncertainty due to a lack of stability.

                What was convincing about Desmond’s argument is his development of the importance of home and its significance to one’s material well-being. After establishing the importance of a stable home, he presented the case that every human being deserves the dignity of having their basic needs met in which a home is one of those basic needs. In addition, Desmond made a valid argument regarding the negative impact eviction has on individuals and communities that deal with high turnover and the stress of high eviction rates. For example, eviction leads to loss of income due to loss of jobs, health issues caused by stress, and even suicide. In addition, communities are disrupted by the high turnover rate of people forced to move. Neighbors become strangers leaving a lack of connection or civic duty. Material hardship is the fallout from eviction due to material loss such as personal items, furniture, and other things. However, there is psychological loss as well such as connection to long-term relationships within communities.

                What is good about the reading is that the author offers successful examples of affordable housing. Some solutions he suggests are housing vouchers, universal housing assistance programs, and other affordable housing solutions. One solution for this crisis is a universal housing voucher program like the ones in other countries such as Great Britain and the Netherlands. For example, the Great Britain Housing Benefit is available to every single family with an income below a certain level who meets basic program requirements (Desmond, 2016, p.309). Other countries have housing allowance programs such as the Netherlands. What is confusing about the readings is his discussion on the failed housing projects. He stated that “America has made impressive strides over the years when it comes to housing”, then, he concludes that these slum clearance programs led to worse devastation, isolation, and poverty (Desmond, 2016, p. 301). Overall, the author does make a reasonable claim for a universal housing voucher program.

            Stein’s article discussed one project, the new 111 West 57^th Street condominium, as an example of the type of buildings being built within cities and as an example of housing policy gone wrong. The problem with this project is its use of space. For example, the width-to-height ratio is 1:24, according to Stein, which makes it ultra-thin (Stein, 2021). The reason this information matters is because of the lack of access to people with low to moderate incomes. Most of the space is unused and remains empty most of the year while affordable housing is hard to find throughout the city. According to Stein, these units are between one and three floors with 3,873 to 7,130 interior square feet, while the average size of Manhattan apartments is 747 square feet (Stein, 2021). In addition to the use of space and its vertical sprawl, these units are costly, selling for millions of dollars using expensive marble and furniture. What is good about the article is how Stein presents the fact of these projects’ excessive waste in cities with extreme poverty such as New York City, Seattle, Boston, and throughout the world. He offers a solution for redistributing housing through social housing programs such as the “Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act” (HONDA) which he believes can solve the affordable housing crisis. He stated that the movement to turn these underutilized spaces will be an uphill battle due to the political power that the real estate industry. The use of empty office and hotel space has been discussed by Mayor Adams, but there have not been any definitive results from this policy. So far, it has just been preliminary. Most importantly, what is missing from this article is the strategy to get this act passed and the strategy needed to make this solution viable.

            Although cities like Boston also have issues of vertical sprawl, other cities have had successful housing projects. Schindler and Moyer presented a successful solution to the housing crisis in the example of Millers River Apartments located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The apartments that house the elderly and those with disabilities were developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to alleviate the housing shortage caused by its student body. It was turned over to the Cambridge Housing Authority to own and manage (Schindler and Moyer, 2022). Unlike other housing projects, the CHA managed to take this property out of receivership and turn it into a success story for public housing. What was good was the authors’ ability to demonstrate strategies used that made CHA so successful. The successful strategies that worked for CHA were improving administrative and operational procedures, direct engagement with tenants, and transparency with the community in its communications that built trust for the agency. By building trust the agency was able to obtain support from residents, the local community, and government agencies. As a result, the same housing programs that failed most other housing authorities, the Cambridge Housing Authority managed to turn into an asset. For example, “the CHA used a $5-million HOPE VI grant, awarded in 1998, to take out $15 million in loans. It dedicated a portion of this funding to the renovation of John F. Kennedy Apartments, an eight-story tower constructed in 1963” (Schindler and Moyer, 2022). The agency was able to use funding acquired from one program to expand its renovation to other housing stock throughout Cambridge.

            What was good about the article was that it presented strategies that could be used in other cities. Also, the authors were straightforward regarding their argument which attacked the status quo within the United States. According to Schindler and Moyer, “this article is an attack on what has become political orthodoxy in the United States: the proposition that public housing has been a social, economic, and architectural failure” (Schindler and Moyer, 2022). Not only did their article demonstrate the possibilities of public housing working, but they also provided clear strategies that were effective. In addition, they dismissed the fact that a private housing market could be a viable solution to the lack of affordable housing. As they explained that many of the programs from the moratorium on direct federal funding for low-income housing construction during Nixon’s administration to President Obama’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, all have diminished available public housing stock in favor of privatization. As a result, affordable housing has been diminished. Many negative ideas about public housing have prevailed in support of privatization. However, the authors believe there needs to be another narrative regarding public housing. They argued that public housing can work if properly supported, operated, and funded.

            Overall, this week’s readings discussed the historical context of housing and the struggle to find affordable housing. Whether it is eviction, public housing, or fair use of public space to provide adequate housing, these issues were examined within the readings. Desmond argued that housing is an unalienable right that takes care of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He strongly made the case for the significance of a home to the basic needs of all citizens. Stein presented the fact that space is being abused by the extremely rich and this wasted space could be used to house so many homeless and low-income people. Lastly, Schindler and Moyer demonstrated why we should make the case for true public housing by not allowing privatization and deregulation through government programs such as HOPE VI and other divesting strategies to take away available affordable housing.

References

Desmond, M (2016). Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. New York, NY: Crown Publishers. Selection: Epilogue.

Stein, S (2021). Faulty Towers: Great Sprawl in the Sky. The Baffler. 60 (November). Schindler, S.