Golden Gates reports on the housing crisis facing most American cities, with particular attention to the San Francisco Bay Area. Dougherty explains the many factors that feed into the issue, and shows how competing interests make it difficult to solve or even ameliorate. The book has a good mix of policy discussion, political intrigue, and community stories, although it felt poorly organized, with in-the-weeds political reporting obscuring the larger issues under discussion.
The book got off to a strong start by presenting a point of view I'd never considered: housing advocates are representing the interests of potential new residents, who obviously have no vote since they don't yet exist. I was also interested to learn about how the interests of homeowners and renters align in some cases and diverge in others, and about why construction costs are so high.
Dougherty acknowledges different views on the complicated topics of affordable housing, subsides, rent control, and zoning, but ultimately comes down on the side of YIMBY activists and explains their position far better than he does any of the competing positions.
No comments:
Post a Comment