Golden Gates

November 15, 2019
A New York Times economics reporter illuminates why affordable housing is scarce for tens of millions of Americans, with a focus on the San Francisco metro area. As Dougherty explains in his first book, the cost of buying a single-family home or even renting a small apartment in a convenient, desirable location is one of the most pervasive conundrums facing Americans today. Perhaps no other phenomenon drives income inequality as starkly as housing. In addition, the price and location of housing affects quality of education from preschool through high school; exposure to clean air and drinkable water; racial and ethnic segregation; crime rates; and, perhaps most significantly, the availability of employment at a livable wage. While Dougherty provides plenty of macro-level research about housing across the nation--and especially in San Francisco--the major strength of the narrative occurs at the micro level. The author located individual players on various sides of housing debates, and he compares and contrasts their advocacy from diverse perspectives. The most memorable protagonist is Sonja Trauss, a young Bay Area resident who surprised everybody, including herself, by emerging as the leader of an aggressive, innovative affordable-housing coalition, the San Francisco Bay Area Renters' Federation (SF BARF). As Dougherty notes, Trauss never opposed expensive homes for the wealthy as long as low-income residents could find affordable rental units that were at least somewhat convenient to their places of employment. If Trauss is considered a hero, the author understands that few of those battling her should be considered fully evil villains. What occurred to cause the unconscionable housing gap, writes the author, "was less a calculated conspiracy than it was best-laid plans." After all, zoning restrictions and other factors can be viewed as one person's protection--or another's exclusion. The narrative will be especially poignant and thought-provoking for readers who rely on nannies, home health aides, construction workers, landscapers, and other low-paid occupations--where will they reside? A readable, eye-opening exploration of "what is fast becoming a national housing crisis."

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December 1, 2019

Economics reporter Dougherty's first book identifies housing as a profound American social and economic challenge which also influences other problems, from educational gaps and racial disparity to climate change. The increasing unaffordability of housing in growing, high-opportunity cities represents a decades-long trend, according to Dougherty. While considering issues such as suburbanization and redlining through a national lens, Dougherty primarily focuses on the San Francisco area, with its mix of Silicon Valley megawealth, homelessness, progressive politics, subjection to California's initiative system, array of diversities, and activist culture. The author explores the fate of tenants who organize in response to a rent increase in North Fair Oaks near Redwood City while also looking at local and state politics, both current and historical, along with gentrification, displacement, NIMBYism, the YIMBY movement, and other factors in the complicated issue of availability and affordability of a place to live. The story of activist turned candidate for local office Sonja Trauss bookends this well-reported and well-documented, not to mention fascinating, treatment of a topic that Dougherty convincingly argues is critical to equity and stability in America. VERDICT Recommended for renters, owners, developers, and policymakers alike.--Janet Ingraham Dwyer, State Lib. of Ohio, Columbus

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 16, 2019
New York Times economics reporter Dougherty dissects the San Francisco Bay Area’s housing shortage crisis and the “antigrowth politics” that caused it in this incisive, character-driven debut. Focusing on Sonja Trauss, who founded the San Francisco Bay Area Renters’ Federation in 2014 (when the region was creating only one new housing unit per eight new jobs), Dougherty charts the rise of the YIMBY (Yes in My Backyard) movement as it seeks to reform zoning laws and push for high density housing development in the Bay Area and other communities. He notes that affluent suburbanites, who fear a decline in property values, and low-income tenants of color, who risk losing their neighborhoods to gentrification, both view YIMBY activism skeptically. He also profiles others involved in housing affordability issues, including Sister Christina Heltsley, whose Catholic nonprofit battles real estate speculators in her working-class, Silicon Valley-adjacent community, and Lafayette, Calif., city manager Steve Falk, who quit his job rather than continue to support restrictive zoning measures. Dougherty expertly weaves these individual stories into his overarching assessment of urban policy, and makes a convincing case for “mixed” housing solutions that balance affordability, availability, and profit. Readers who assume there’s no solution to sky-high rents in America’s big cities should consult this detailed and optimistic counter-narrative. Agent: Melissa Flashman, Janklow & Nesbit.