Applying the Wrong Housing Lessons How did gentrification, displacement and racial and class exclusion occur in urban America? The common belief that these outcomes were driven by “the market” began being refuted in Robert Caro’s The Power Broker and Chester
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A Long Overlooked Immigrant Success Story A significant number of San Francisco’s SRO hotels have long been owned by Indian-American families. Most trace their ancestry to the India state of Gujarat. Many have the last name Patel. When I came
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Jazz Icons and the Mob Jazz in the United States emerged in the dark-lit clubs of New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, New York City and other cities. It’s popularity exploded during Prohibition, boosting its intersection with underground bars. Jazz also became
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Why America Fails its Vets Health care, housing, climate change, education, racism and the war on democracy typically top the list of America’s problems.  The mistreatment of veterans and America’s outrageously high military budget get less attention. Yet veterans are
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A Tenant Battle for the Ages When a landlord drops the ‘E-word,’ from one day to the next, your whole life changes. You realize that any Johnny-come-lately landlord can uproot you and throw you out of your home and community.”
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Power Concedes Nothing Offers Pathway to Victory Recent Supreme Court rulings have left progressives angry, upset and searching for answers. Many are fired up and ready to go for the November elections but not sure what to do. Fortunately, a
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Whyte’s Groundbreaking Critique of Cities When we think of the foundational heroes of progressive American urbanism, Jane Jacobs often first comes to mind. Jacobs’ 1961 classic, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” transformed our view of cities and
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First of New Trilogy Don Winslow is among my favorite novelists. His three book Cartel Trilogy on the DEA and Mexican drug wars is some of the best fiction I have ever read. On April 26 he’s releasing a new
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