Image - speaker, house and hedge
Past Event

For Richer, Not Poorer: Richard Kahlenberg on How NIMBYISM Hurts the Working Class

While the United States officially denounces prejudice based on race and gender, it has fostered the growth of another form of prejudice: class and income discrimination. Through state-sponsored government policies, millions of working-class Americans have opportunities blocked by exclusionary "snob zoning," making housing unaffordable, frustrating the goals of the Civil Rights Movement, and locking in inequality in our urban and suburban landscapes.

Through poignant accounts of families caught in the web of new redlining, Richard Kahlenberg, in his new book Excluded, brings to life the human consequences of these policies, revealing how economic segregation extends its tendrils into every aspect of life. Access to transportation, employment opportunities, health care, and quality education hang in the balance, disproportionately favoring the affluent.

Kahlenberg will explain the hidden mechanisms that perpetuate America's housing crisis, underscoring the profound impact of where one lives. He'll shed light on a shocking paradox—that the most restrictive zoning flourishes in politically liberal cities, where progressive racial views should hold sway.

It's a compelling indictment of America's housing policy, revealing the intricate web of social engineering that perpetuates segregation by economic class. Join us in unlocking the hidden truths behind America's housing crisis as Kahlenberg explains our problems and offers hope for change. 

Notes

All in-person attendees will receive a copy of Excluded compliments of the Ken & Jaclyn Broad Family Fund.

Ken and Jaclyn Broad Family Fund

Photo courtesy the speaker.

January 22, 2024

The Commonwealth Club of California
110 The Embarcadero
Taube Family Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States

Speakers
Image - Richard Kahlenberg

Richard Kahlenberg

Author, Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYISM, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don’t See; Twitter @RickKahlenberg

Image - Erin Baldassari

In Conversation with Erin Baldassari

Housing Affordability Correspondent, KQED; Host, “Sold Out” Podcast; X @e_baldi