Customer Reviews

America's Trillion-Dollar Housing Mistake: The Failure of American Housing Policy

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Tough but good arguments. If you are a pro low-income housing advocate do not pass up an opportunity to read this book. Admittedly told from a conservative's (ideological) perspective, this book presents many ideals advanced by former Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) Chairman Vince Lane, who was once on the Clinton administration's short list for HUD Secretary, as well as former(CHA) public housing residents.

I recommend this book to all political science majors.

It is a clear-eyed analysis of the mistakes made by well-intentioned people who failed dismally to perceive the differences between their dream worlds and the world which is inhabited by real human beings.

In the book, Husock also analyzes alternative approaches such as providing housing vouchers.

I have also read Husock's essay, "Mayor must reconsider 'affordable'," which was published in the Boston Globe January 2006, while Husock was adjunct lecturer at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

And I have read his 2007 Wall Street Journal commentary "What's Lost in the Move - Helping our newest neighbors acclimate," which was written after he became vice president of the Manhattan Institute.

I look forward to reading more work by Husock.

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2004 PLANetizen Top 10 Book List
The following list of top 10 books published in 2003 was compiled by the PLANetizen editorial staff based on a number of criteria, including editorial reviews, sales rankings, popularity, PLANetizen reader nominations, number of references, recommendations from experts and the book's potential impact on the urban planning, development and design professions.

Below are summaries for each selected title, in alphabetical order. Books published after December 2003 were not considered for this list.

America's Trillion Dollar Housing Mistake
The Birth of City Planning in the United States: 1840-1917
Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth 1820-2000
City: Urbanism and Its End
Gaining Ground: A History of Landmaking in Boston
Global City Blues
Halfway to Everywhere: A Portrait of America's First-Tier Suburbs
House by House, Block by Block: The Rebirth of America's Urban Neighborhoods
Mega-Projects: The Changing Politics of Urban Public Investment
Modern Architecture and Other Essays

America's Trillion Dollar Housing Mistake: The Failure of American Housing Policy
by Howard Husock (Ivan R. Dee, Inc., November 2003)

Housing policy in the U.S. is an issue within the urban planning, development and design professions (and beyond) that is as tough, as it is sensitive, as it is variegated, as it is unresolved. And arguably many of us, united in acknowledging some of its past mistakes, are divided by its future course. America's Trillion Dollar Housing Mistake is a collection of essays written from 1995-2003 on everything that Howard Husock, director of public policy case studies at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, thinks is wrong with U.S. housing policy. It is an unforgiving look at the history of 'failed' housing programs in the U.S., with such provocative chapter titles as "Don't Let CDC's Fool You" and "We Don't Need Subsidized Housing." Husock dedicates nearly all of his book to trying to discredit policies such as the Community Reinvestment Act, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, Section 8, public housing in its many forms, and subsidized non-profit housing development. He also offers some solutions, including a "compassionate conservative housing policy," which would gradually dismantle public housing and subsidy programs. He also highlights what he thinks are successful models, such as time-limited public housing in Charlotte, NC, and Habitat for Humanity.

The experience of reading Howard Husock's essays is interactive. Along the way, you may find yourself yelling out counter-arguments, or giving Husock a mental high-five. And depending on which chapter it is and what your position is on solving the seemingly insurmountable housing problems in this country, you may even find that you do both. Whether you agree with Howard Husock or not, America's Trillion Dollar Housing Mistake keeps you on your toes and holds you accountable for your opinions, whatever they may be, on housing policy in the U.S.

Buy this book

Don't be swayed by ideologues who likely haven't read the book.

Husock does a fantastic job of deconstructing the various policies and programs that have contributed to our current state of affairs with housing issues in the United States. Not content to just stay within the realm of government/taxpayer sponsored housing initiatives: the author proceeds to analyze programs like Habitat for Humanity. He views Habitat as a wonderful catalyst to get aspiring homeowners to invest in their home and their community with a sense of ownership, versus a handout that leaves no sense of place. But, this is just one example, the book gives you many more.

If one did actually read this with an open-mind, not likely for some, you would take away different perspectives on what is good/bad about various programs, and how resources could be shifted to meet housing needs in the most economic and managebale manner.

I went into this book with a completely open mind hoping to be enlightened. I certainly agree with the assertion that the title makes, and so I was looking forward to hearing Husock's analysis. What a waste of time. I didn't find a lot of original ideas here, or clear thoughts, just your basic John Birch Society argument against "big government."

Haven't read it yet, but on Thomas Sowell's recommendation, I will.