Evolution of the American Housing System

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Gail Radford, a history professor, discusses the historical development of the American housing system from before the 1930s to modern times. The conversation touches on the promotion of home ownership by elites, challenges faced by individuals during economic downturns, and the impact of government housing programs post-World War I. The chapter also examines the shift from small-scale speculators to larger developers, the consequences of high housing costs, and the challenges of implementing non-market housing solutions in a society where housing is seen as an investment rather than a social good.

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