Destroying livability in the United States

A follow-up on gentrification and decay

Last month we wrote a piece about the housing and livability crisis that much of the United States is experiencing. Some of the coolest parts of that piece were the comments that people left about their own experiences with unaffordable communities, rapidly changing ones, or some other connected phenomenon.

Inspired by all these comments, we put out a call for some more input, and with all of these collected responses, mapped out what people were saying. At least one thing is clear from this process, as one commenter, Elizabeth, says: “This is a mass issue across the country. Something’s gotta break.”

There’s no doubt that housing is in crisis, and the housing crisis is practically synonymous with a larger economic reckoning. Home ownership has been the single largest way Americans build wealth, but that entire mechanism is increasingly out of reach as private equity and property speculators buy up houses and push ownership out of reach for more and more people, not to mention the rent being too damn high. People brought all of this and more into the comments of our last piece, along with numerous other testimonies, perspectives, and observations. We wanted to share some of these comments to let folks know that if simply living in the place you love has gotten more difficult and expensive, you are not alone. This is a national crisis, and one we have to face together.

Below are some visuals with just a few of the many wonderful comments you all left. And there were so many good ones that we added more in text form below as well. We hope this pieces allows folks to learn from one another, to see snapshots of the vast range of experiences and difficulties people are encountering right now. And, again, we hope you know that because of the universality of this issue, it’s one we can organize around in the form of tenant unions, legislation, and community organizing. We hope this can be a resource for you, for your neighbors, and for prompting change. Without further ado, here are some of your powerful testimonies:

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The West Coast

“This is happening all over western Washington as the tech-families sell off their homes in affluent neighborhoods in Seattle and convert to remote jobs. Specifically, the town of Vashon, which is in the worst housing crisis it’s ever seen. The town has a population of roughly 10,000 people, the average home price is leading closer to 1 million each day. People cannot afford to work here, as they cannot afford to live here. The average rent is around $2700 a month for one bedroom spaces, and many rely on home sharing. Some bedrooms rent out for $900-1200 a month. We have seen the decay of Seattle, and now our small towns are rapidly gentrifying. It’s happening at an alarmingly fast rate.” -Erin

“Seattle. Many small, single family dwellings in my formerly lower/lower middle class and diverse neighborhood are being bought by developers. They are cramming mini apartment buildings or 6 condos/townhomes into the lot, covering almost every square inch of the plot of land and then selling, at crazy rates to young, mostly white, professionals. It is gentrification on steroids....instead of higher income families and individuals coming into the neighborhood and adding value and money to the mix already there, the entire socio-economic and racial makeup of the area is being rewritten in a matter of years.” -Anonymous

“This is happening in Oregon as well…

I had a woman recently tell me how, when she finally made it into a tiny apartment, she sobbed about letting go of the broken down truck that had been her home for 2 years. She had been working full time for the duration, and it took that long for her to save up for the security deposit.

Another told me how the only residents who don't have to deal with the mobile RV meth labs that rotate park on local residential streets, are the folks in the brand new gated community. The roads to and from that oasis are being re- routed to give those residents quicker access to the shopping areas.

Of course, the folks in cheaper in town residences have to rely on over priced food from gas stations, while they wait for the weekly food bank to open for 6 hours.

Local and state entities are attempting to address the housing crisis, and the new rent controlled apartment building that opened downtown in January was full, with a remaining 100+ out of luck applicants, within 30 days.

The warming station, drop in center, and other local social services agencies are very busy, struggling to keep enough volunteers to stay open, but they are doing amazing work helping the large houseless population bide their time until their luck changes. Some reluctantly leave for larger cities, but many have family in the area ( in uncomfortably over crowded homes) and don't want to leave.

I love the idea of tenant associations and other organized efforts for residents to fight to 'stay home'. Your article has inspired me to start this conversation with local agencies and residents.” -Kertz

“I've experienced this across the entire Bay area, from Japantown in San Jose to the black neighborhoods of Oakland, and everywhere between. Watching these beautiful communities having the souls sucked out of them in pursuit of another luxury condo has been heartbreaking. Between that and rising rent prices, my partner and I have decided we can't put roots down here despite my partner's family being from here.” -Anonymous

“Dillon Beach, in Marin Co., CA has been gentrifying over the last decade. It used to be a reasonably (for Marin Co.) affordable community with affordable vacation rentals. Now it's coast prohibitive to live or vacation in. Like so many ag/factory towns in the Midwest, Kenton, in Hardin Co., OH, has been declining for decades. There are valiant efforts to revitalize, but the mistrust that residents have always seemed to have of strangers has evolved as people became more radicalized by the Tea Party and then Trump. Now there's more anger and opposition to anything/anyone new and it's hurting recovery efforts.” -Anonymous

“I lived in North Idaho from the late ‘80s until around 2008 and I loved it, until it wasn’t safe for an lgbtq family. I had my eldest kid there, I had family that had been there for generations. We loved the land and our communities. As more and more folks fled from all over the prices increased. We left out of necessity and for my families safety. I don’t think I could afford to go back if I wanted to, the prices have gotten so incredibly high for everything. Even just to rent. Your piece is spot on for all of those areas. So many memories.” - Claudine

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The Northwest

“Idaho Falls, Idaho, the 2 of the three bads. No real "decay" but no gentrification, just massively higher housing prices since 2020 with no real increase in amenities or services. Lot of out of staters moving in, with reprehensible politics. They view Idaho as their conservative bastion. I've lived here all my life. I'm staying here though. Still a good place, and it's my home.” -Anonymous

“My mother is from a ranch near Geraldine (in the wheat-growing region of eastern Montana), which had a population of around 400 when she was born. Its population is currently 207…” -Antonia

“Eastern Montana is getting hit hard, too, it’s just not as insane as Bozeman and the Flathead area.

Thank you so much for writing about this. I am terrified that younger millennials and Gen z are going to live through a plunge in home-ownership rates, dependent on rentals largely owned by enormous corporations who keep rents as high as possible while they break people with junk fees.

A few more factors to look at if you are interested: Many of the purchases that have driven up prices everywhere are second homes or investments. Private equity is responsible for a lot of it, but so are people flush with cash who understandably see real estate as a great investment. Unless we change tax incentives around property hoarding, we are screwed. Apparently some Texas MAGA politicians are proposing some limits on huge corporations owning more than 150 homes (overall? In the state? Per county? Not sure.). I never thought I’d say it, but good (if not far enough) for them.” -Nora

“Livingston Montana, moved here in 2002, paid 80K for a cute little house that I fixed up over time. House across the street just sold for 750K. No one under 40 can find a place to rent or buy for any money. All the artists are gone, it's just soul-less rich retirees and fly fishermen now. I'd leave, but we don't know where we'd go. This is the 3rd place I've been gentrified out of starting with Telluride in the 80s, and Salt Lake City in the 90s.” -Anonymous

“Reading this after seeing a property listing for $4 million in my hometown, where the median per capita income is $35,000. The flood of incoming wealth is also part of the rot.” -Kathleen

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Colorado

“I grew up in a rural community in the Northwest corner of Colorado. It is an area dependent on the energy industry through coal mining and the operation of a power plant. Due to the changing times, the energy industry is declining in the area leading to a lot of decay.

One of the problems of growing up in a rural area that is declining is the loss of funding. I did not experience a single year of school that did not deal with financial problems in the district. It was normal to have buildings fall apart, funding cuts, and the festering problems of Christian/American Nationalism that feed easily on areas like that.

The rural community is also close by to a ski town and there is a massive wealth disparity between the counties. With ski towns and mountains being popular to rich folks, it pushes out other poor to middle class people who may work in the area. Usually, it leads to people moving to the rural area and commuting into the ski town. There is decline yet fluctuation, housing prices have gone up, new businesses come, but many of those businesses shutter.

Families who have lived in the rural community for decades carry a lot of animosity toward those they deem responsible for the decline of the energy industry. A lot of the anger and the fear is entwined with white supremacy and makes the community generally unsafe for anyone deemed as outsiders.” - Anonymous

“This hit home. Not in a home. But in my heart. Coming from Crested Butte, Colorado, I gave up on having a home long ago. Too many billionaires bought everything up in their sad search for meaning. They liked what they saw in us when they came to ski. They thought they could buy it. But community cannot be bought. It must be earned. It must grow from you, slow.” -Gregory

“I've seen a lot of this too, living and traveling in various rural areas west of the Rockies for the last decade, mostly in the states of Oregon, California, Nevada, NM and Colorado. Totally agreed that rural gentrification is not getting enough attention. I read somewhere recently that homelessness is increasing at a faster rate in rural areas than in urban areas, but is less visible because of the lower density and access to public land. I've also run across a handful of campgrounds on public land that seem mostly inhabited by disrupted locals, not tourists…Last year I lived mostly in Paonia, Colorado, which is located on the West Slope… What I saw and heard there was already familiar to me from other small towns I've gotten to know over the last ten years all over the west. It's exactly as you said: there are dried-up, blowing away places and then these gentrified places. Elsewhere on the West Slope there were examples of both. There were also addiction issues in many of the non-gentrified places.” -Kollibri

“The other thing about this insanity is how much home insurance is beginning to cost. Related to climate change. Fire and biblical hail. I live in the foothills outside Denver in a modest 1800 square-foot home along a 2 Lane highway next-door to an auto body shop. We have a creek in our property and it’s very beautiful, and a little bit Funky. Bought my house for $300,000 in 2017 and now supposedly it’s worth 620k. But here’s the catch. Fire danger is so extreme here that some people can’t even get home insurance and mine has gone up between one and $2000 for the past two years. I just wanted to funky little house next to a creek!” -Camille

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The Midwest

“Iowa City is one of the most underrated places to live in the US, in my opinion. Excellent medical care, a thriving literary culture, two-ish hours to Chicago, and very affordable housing. I don’t consider the university massive, but I live in Texas where UT is truly massive at 60,000+ students compared to Iowa’s 35k.” -Marianna

“Thanks for these insights! In Iowa City, in addition to the factors you mentioned, consistent public support for affordable housing helps: https://www.icgov.org/government/departments-and-divisions/neighborhood-and-development-services/neighborhood-services/community-development/affordable-housing-resource-center.” -Sally

“I will keep shouting that it's possible to buy a house for $100K in central Illinois. I have a safe, quiet, walkable neighborhood, a nice yard, a spacious house and can walk to most public services and to bars and restaurants. There's a hospital I would be able to see from my home office window if not for several tall houses in the way. My house is a fixer-upper, but there are plenty of newer ones available for less than $100K that are move-in ready. I don't know how anybody is making these thousand-dollar rent payments.” -Michelle

“I live in rural Southern Indiana. We are fortunate that the growth of our little town of Charlestown is growing and growing . Business, homes and medical facilities are being upgraded. The strangle hold that the monied interests have on real estate is a plan to push the poor farther and farther away from facilities that are the lifeblood of these communities. We still have water that is full of toxic chemicals. I can imagine areas where tiny houses are being built in mass to put the old people in.” -Susan

“I appreciate this piece and live in a college town [Bloomington, Indiana] that seems similar to how you describe Laramie and Iowa City. Here, however, I see a lot of downsides to being in the shadow of a university (especially a big flagship state school). It is true that we are economically insulated from a lot (we never had a housing crash in '08) and benefit culturally, but there are trade-offs. Here, the university has really exacerbated the housing unaffordability. Development is an arms race to build the newest luxury student housing for wealthy out-of-state students, and single family homes are bought up by property management companies to turn into rentals or Airbnbs. The school just keeps expanding the student population, but not building or requiring certain kinds of housing (like more dorms and rules that freshman must live on campus, for example). The economic incentive for developers to cater to students leaves residents and workers behind, and has made so many people mad about student housing that there is serious resistance to housing density because they can't imagine that looking different than the big boxes of loud students that have taken over downtown.

And then the university can't handle the grad students forming a union and asking for stipend increases because they can't afford to live in town.

Pair all of that with restrictions put on the whole state (thanks to our Republican supermajority state legislature) that prevent us from establishing rent control. Our local politicians talk a lot about affordable housing, and while I think some of them do really want to prioritize it, we face such strong headwinds in the bigger forces at the state level and the power of the university to seemingly do whatever the hell it wants.” -Cathleen

“No, I have not experienced it. I think it's because I live in the Midwest. I live in Northern IL, about an hour 15 min drive from Chicago. It's a college town (NIU) so rent has always been higher then the surrounding rural small towns, but not Chicago high.” -Anonymous

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The Northeast

“I have lived in and around Eastern Massachusetts for the past 5 years and have experienced a variety of neighborhoods - Dorchester, Back Bay, Cambridge, Marlborough, and Worcester. Yes, I lived in a different area every year. And yes, I was driven out each time by rising rents. But what I've seen is how different white and non-white neighborhoods are. Back Bay and Cambridge has wonderful parks, libraries, restaurants and more. Whereas in the other three, its clear that the government has left them to fend for themselves.” -Anonymous

“New York City - rent increased more than 50$ for the first time in 10 years and doubled.” -Anonymous

“We recently bought our first apartment (at 49), here in the Hudson Valley, from a Brooklyn couple that bought during the pandemic and then *never lived here*; we got some of their furniture in the deal, and everything was basically flawless.

We moved here as former renters in Jersey City, but we're here to stay and live, and what really sucks is that the entitlement and money of the pandemic folks has made a lot of locals hostile to newcomers. It's hard to blame them; some asshat was driving a Cybertruck around during my first few days here, like, to pick up his groceries and coffee. I'd never seen one in Jersey City *or* NYC.” -Manders

“Tenant advocacy will be needed. It seems that we are to become a nation of many renters as private equity firms continue to expand their ownership. I lived in a small town on the Delaware River in NJ. I recall old people who remembered parents who had worked in the paper mill. Some Irish families traced themselves back to the time of railroad construction in the late 1800's. Our town's people were of various income levels. I know no one under the age of forty who grew up in the town and is able to build a life there separate from a parent.” -Stephanie

“This is much of a Coastal Maine too! The island where we live is full of second homes, and locals can’t afford to live on it anymore. At the same time there is a shortage of labour because people who do service jobs can’t afford to live where they work. We aren’t local so I feel like we’re in some ways part of the problem, even though it is our actual home not our holiday home.” -Fran

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International

“We have lived in the north end of Winnipeg, Manitoba for 13yrs. We have seen it do both. In some parts of our community (roughly 900 homes) we have seen houses get fixed up, gardens put in, security cameras installed and general investment. In other parts, usually empty or slum landlord situations houses are burning down. Large warehouses and store fronts are burning to the ground. We have several houses sitting in a burnt out state with no progress. Encampments are always a struggle along the river with fires, scrap metal, burning wires, theft etc…. Sex and drug trade is happening but it moves quite a bit. So no clear answer here.” -Anonymous

“I've been hearing a lot about digital nomads and how this is getting bad in other countries where people still earn their salary in U.S. dollars and displace locals even more easily than they do here. It's honestly horrifying.” -Leigh

“Similar happening in Britain. Lovely picturesque places are full of ‘second homes’ and the locals can’t afford to live in a place where there lives are, yet because the second homers are there infrequently, most of the time the places are virtually ghost towns.” -Winston

“Laramie sounds a lot like Exeter in the UK. Saved from decay by a university which brings jobs, young people, bars, clubs, restaurants, and housing.” -John

“Rents and house prices are very high in New Zealand, and incomes are lower than in countries we compare ourselves to. No capital gains tax on the profits from the sale of property has fuelled speculation for decades. Housing is the preferred investment vehicle for those with the means. As in the US and elsewhere, the shift to working from home has enabled many to move away from expensive Auckland and Wellington to more livable, smaller cities, driving up prices beyond the reach of locals. High-end Teslas can be seen parked next to beat-up pickup trucks — a sure sign that trouble has come to town.” -Mark

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Thank you for reading all of the comments and testimonies from our recent piece, and we hope you feel a little less alone than you did 15 minutes ago. We can be so isolated, so constantly told that our struggles are both our fault and ours alone, that we wanted to create this virtual platform for people to share their experiences and learn from one another. We hope it helps, and there is certainly more writing on housing, place, and local organizing to come. -T & J

Thank you to everyone who commented, interacted, and shared our work on this topic so far. Please feel free to message us about resources, organizing, or anything else. We appreciate you all engaging with our work!