Thank you to the author Jerusalem Demsas, publishers Zando, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of ON THE HOUSING CRISIS. I found an accessible copy on Libby. All views are mine.

"Everyone has a little NIMBY [Not In My Back Yard] in them. It doesn’t have to be the part that wins." p22

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. I think she underestimates the impact of investment-owned homes. She chastises the owners of such beliefs, telling them to check their numbers, and then cherry picks her own numbers. As of 2023, as much as 26% single family home sales were to investors, as opposed to occupying homeowners. She doesn't even look at this figure, which has been increasing year on year since the start of the pandemic.

2. I do not get along with this book's tone. Jerusalem Demsas may be a celebrated journalist, but she often insults her readers, either with snide tone, or more directly: "I don’t want to be hyperbolic, but the idea that these firms are ultimately responsible for our housing-affordability crisis is absolutely ridiculous, and no one who knows anything about housing markets believes it." p73 If I'm not mistaken, she just implied that her readers are "ridiculous" for their beliefs, which I believe she is trying to change here with this book. Unless she intended to write her book for the people who already agree with her. That's always fun. Besides-- I was Courtside in 2008 when unstable housing markets brought this country to its knees. There is nothing ridiculous about being concerned with investor meddling with the housing market. We know how that turns out.

3. This really isn't a book about the housing crisis, because Demsas doesn't recognize one. Each essay in this collection might touch on housing or relate in some way to housing, but not so much that I would even say this book is about housing in general. It is, however a collection of heavily political statements, about everything from the procedures and practices for allowing communities to make statements before development licenses are granted, to that one about the guy who made an official comment about a building project, who she (and a bunch of other journalists) then pursued for an unnamed purpose, which I'm guessing was a story that we all already know anyway. In another of her essays, Demsas writes about how we vote too much in our communities and states in the US. But I didn’t read anything in this book about a housing crisis.

Rating: 💧.5 /5 bitter tears
Recommend? No, but it has its audience, likely fans of unregulated markets
Finished: Oct 24 '24
Format: Digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
📈 economics
💵 financial journalism
📄 financial policy

This series collects one author's previously published essays from The Atlantic on a cohesive subject. I am very concerned about the housing crisis as a millennial who doesn't expect to ever manage home ownership. On the Housing Crisis discusses the interrelated issues surrounding the American housing crisis, including rising housing costs, insufficient housing (particularly affordable housing), the legal challenges preventing the construction of affordable housing, and rising rates of homelessness.

A downside of this collection is that they reiterate the same few arguments. I found myself wanting more from the author's critiques of NIMBYs and the housing shortage, while wishing less time had been paid to the shortcomings of leaving housing regulations to hyperlocal governments. I did find the information about regulations that often prevent developers from building apartments, duplexes, and smaller homes (the types of housing that are in the most demand and with the greatest shortages nationally). The essays on homelessness are especially compelling and insightful. I am. intrigued and motivated to find more books that examine these issues more deeply.

A really informative read.

I like the author's voice and how they weave ideas together to make up a well explained essay. Reads really well, doesn't bog down the reader, and would be accessible to many.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!