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.
All in-person attendees will receive a copy of Excluded compliments of the Ken & Jaclyn Broad Family Fund.
Photo courtesy the speaker.
The Commonwealth Club of California
110 The Embarcadero
Taube Family Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States
Richard Kahlenberg
Author, Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYISM, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don’t See; Twitter @RickKahlenberg
In Conversation with Erin Baldassari
Housing Affordability Correspondent, KQED; Host, “Sold Out” Podcast; X @e_baldi