Is housing a commodity, or a fundamental human right? In Greensboro and across the rapidly-urbanizing world, housing is becoming more expensive and, for low-income people, more precarious. Over-reliance on private markets has turned housing into a luxury, offered only to the highest bidder. Public housing is discredited. Our battles for affordable housing, with all their modest gains, seem doomed to failure. But there are alternatives to the dystopian housing economy we have now, and interest in them is growing. We group these alternatives under the broad category of “Social Housing.” These operate on the level of national policy, with many today advocating for a housing new deal — a public option for fairer, greener housing — and they operate in the neighborhoods, with tenant cooperatives, land trusts and innumerable shared equity and collaborative housing innovations happening everywhere.
In this Hangout we heard from some of the leading thinkers and front line workers in the fight for social housing:
- Deyanira Del Río Co-Director New Economy Project, New York NY
- Mark Paul Assistant Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies at New College of Florida, Sarasota FL Co-Author “The Case for Social Housing“
- Stephanie Reyes State and Local Policy Manager Grounded Solutions Network, Oakland CA
- Steve Virgil Executive Director of Experiential Education Clinical Professor of Law Wake Forest School of Law, Winston-Salem NC
- John Washington Organizer/Political Educator at People’s Action Buffalo, NY Homes Guarantee Campaign
CHCS Whitepaper on Social Housing: CHCS Social Housing Whitepaper
Presentation from Grounded Solutions: Social Housing – SEH, CLTs, and IH 01.28.21
Recording from the panel: