How U.S. Housing Policy Divides Our Neighborhoods by Economic Class: A Conversation with Richard Kahlenberg

On this episode of Infill, YIMBY Law’s Executive Director Sonja Trauss speaks with Richard Kahlenberg, author of Excluded: How Snob Zoning, Nimbyism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don't See. The pair discuss how U.S. housing policy segregates our neighborhoods by creating barriers to allowing folks of all incomes to live in high-resource communities through exclusionary zoning.

According to Kahlenberg, class segregation has doubled since the 1970s. Although there are laws that prohibit explicit racial discrimination, many communities avoid legal repercussions by instead excluding potential neighbors based on income–  disproportionately impacting Black and Brown people.

How does Kahlenberg believe we can correct this class-based exclusion in housing? One idea of his is a National Economic Fair Housing Act to give people the ability to sue communities that exclude them based on income. Tune in to hear more thoughts from Kahlenberg on what kinds of policies he believes will integrate our neighborhoods, lower the cost of housing, and dismantle barriers to creating more homes in all communities.

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