Challenges and Visions in American Housing Policy

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The chapter delves into the historical context and challenges of housing policy in American politics, aiming to create stable support for housing programs and improved urban growth patterns. It highlights the implications of private ownership, design determinism, New Deal housing frameworks, and the Labor Housing Conference's vision for a new housing system. The discussion includes insights on neighborhood design, social interactions, and the impact of community facilities in housing projects.

Featuring Gail Radford on her classic book Modern Housing for America: Policy Struggles in the New Deal Era. Radford tells the story of Catherine Bauer, the Labor Housing Conference, and the struggle to make the American housing system a radically social one. In place of the two-tier system that won out, Bauer and her allies proposed a massive federally-backed system of noncommercial housing that would appeal to and house the majority of Americans. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out Revolutionary Social Democracy: Working-Class Politics Across the Russian Empire (1882-1917) by Eric Blanc haymarketbooks.org/books/1907-revolutionary-social-democracy