89. Lindsay Duvall - 2023 Annual Conference: Why is Housing so Unaffordable? Causes and Solutions

Today, our discussion comes from our most recent annual conference: Why is Housing so Unaffordable? Causes and Solutions. For the next twelve weeks, our discussions will revolve around the topic of housing and house prices with three subtopics. The first will be root causes, followed by an evaluation of current policy responses, and finishes with alternatives to current policy and thinking around affordability. Today, we spoke to Lindsay Duvall. Lindsay is a Senior Organizer for the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). NLIHC aims to create policy that ensures people of low income have access to and can afford quality housing through advocacy, activism, and shaping public opinion. Housing is crucial to economic mobility. Having a roof over your head improves all sorts of outcomes, from healthcare to education. We’ve talked about the trends behind some of the housing issues we’re all experiencing, but we haven’t talked about the trends going on within public policy around housing. Ms. Duvall is an expert on this subject and helps us explore some of the funding and policies contributing to the situation today. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the number of public housing units has declined by 200,000 units since the 1990s. Recent policies, such as the American Rescue Plan of 2021, aimed at addressing this, but only in the short run. To be clear, this is a complex solution that will require more than market-oriented solutions. To solve this problem, we need local and federal governments, real estate developers, and financiers to work together to create a holistic solution that will benefit citizens in the long term. All stakeholders will need to play a part in solving this. NLIHC advocates policy on behalf of people in order to create a more equitable economy. Their goal is to maintain and improve existing public housing stock while expanding supply to ensure stability. Through their work, NLIHC improves welfare and helps fill in the cracks in our foundation (no pun intended). Ms. Duvall previously worked at the Oregon Food Bank where she addressed hunger through outreach and volunteer mobilization. She earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy from Portland State University. The Henry George School joined Lindsay to discuss housing policy in the legislative pipeline, some fascinating facts regarding New York City’s housing crisis, and which states offer sufficient affordable renting units for low-income earners. To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: https://www.hgsss.org/