Housing for the People

A joint publication with Local Progress Impact Lab and PolicyLink.

There are few things in our society that are as consequential to everything we are and become than the place we live – both the dwelling we hold the keys to as well as the community where that home is situated.

The home we live in is so critical to our well-being and opportunities that we save money our whole lives to secure our future in the form of a house near parks and schools or a place near work and our friends – and still, some of us won’t be able to own our own home. Or we dream about the day that we don’t have to pay half our income to a landlord who can displace us with the stroke of a pen or click of a button.

It’s a harsh reality – But what options do we have?

What if...

• The homes available to us were close to work, schools and childcare centers – and we didn’t pay a premium for that.
• Our communities were planned around green public spaces and arts and culture that inspired us.
• The security of our future was not dependent on one particular building, but in the collective governance of our homes.
• Our options for our housing reflected our desires for self-determination, connection and opportunity – for everyone, no exceptions.

This report offers principles for how we achieve that possibility, and a snapshot of how emerging local policies are working toward those principles. It presents a history about how the real estate industry has worked for a century to distort our housing choices in favor of their profit interests, and how building and managing housing in the public interest can guide us out of a housing crisis.