law and order: sandwich crimes unit www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

We published our 100th episode! Listen for some fun lore about the Housing Voice hosts, answers to listener questions, and the announcement that we'll be reading Stuck for our first book club, with author Yoni Appelbaum joining us for the last episode in that short series.

"Some of the critics seems to view the artificial costs of mobility as an argument against mobility, when removing those artificial costs is the whole point of the book." Further thoughts on @yappelbaum.bsky.social's "Stuck," and against localism as an ideology:

One of the most interesting things in @yappelbaum.bsky.social's Stuck, is the idea that people join groups most when they can live where they want.

NEW: Kamala Harris passed on her top choice for a running mate—Pete Buttigieg—because it would've been “too big of a risk” for a Black woman to run with a gay man, she writes in her book, @jonlemire.bsky.social reports: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Many of our land use / building codes are rooted in exclusion + prejudice, even if they are facially anodyne and widely accepted as common sense today Case in point: early 1900 fire safety reforms were primarily designed to ⬆️ the cost of tenements / MF apts (old and new) to reduce immigration

Strongly recommended for pro-housing people (and even more for people who aren't yet on board): Appelbaum, Yoni. Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. Random House, 2025. Moving exerpt attached. #a2council

"When the Dust Bowl set off an exodus out of the Great Plains, 300k migrants showed up in California, a place seen as the land of opportunity. The welcome was not warm." This was talked about a bit in the book "Stuck" by @yappelbaum.bsky.social:

From Stuck! by @yappelbaum.bsky.social, some great history on U.S. building codes and Lawrence Veiller's work on tenement laws:

1. In the decades before Prohibition, many municipalities experimented with license-laws, regulating the sale of alcohol. Such licenses swiftly became the most valuable things dispensed by government, with profoundly distorting consequences.

You will never think of Jane Jacobs the same way again after reading this book: bsky.app/profile/torr...

10/10, no notes

Sounds like a big problem! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/700580...

We used to be a country, a proper country

"On its own accord, Grok dug up the demographics of previous winners of Nobel Prizes in the sciences—disproportionately white men—and determined a set of “good_races”: white, caucasian, Asian, East Asian, South Asian, and Jewish."

I talk to Yoni Appelbaum on declining mobility and the future of American economic growth, how the abundance movement is changing the tenor of this debate, and some solutions on how to help Americans live where they want and build a more prosperous future: riskgaming.substack.com/p/how-jane-...

NEW: Culture war, with real troops. What I saw during three days in downtown LA www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The most important graph you'll see today. As large blue-state metros choked off growth with zoning, red-state metros kept building cheap suburban housing. But now, that's changed, as homeowners in those states have mastered the art of blocking development, too. The result? Prices are spiking.

Sunday read: How has zoning historically been used to segregate cities? 1885 Modesto, CA made it illegal to operate laundromats in certain areas for one racist reason. We can’t discuss zoning bills, like the AZ Starter Homes Act, without acknowledging this history. ℹ️: Stuck by Yoni Appelbaum

The housing market now dictates settlement patterns, rather than following from them. Americans move to find housing they can afford, not to seek economic opportunity. Does it really have to be that way? @ad-mastro.bsky.social reviews @yappelbaum.bsky.social's "Stuck":

"Appelbaum very probably represents the Democratic future. He can bring in libertarians and capitalists with his YIMBY economic policies...but he keeps the coastal activist base happy by including just a touch of racial identity politics and a whiff of lavender identitarianism."

Sinners is a horror film in which almost all of the key events are driven by the constraints of the Jim Crow economy (spoilery) www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

Key passage from Stuck by @yappelbaum.bsky.social. New York tenement housing was a temporary step ladder for newcomers saving up for something better (and conditions were mostly fine). We see snapshots of where people are in the moment but not how they move up. Observing dynamism is tricky.

Join us this afternoon as we talk housing

Nicely done

SCOOP: three days after Kilmar Abrego García’s family sued the govt for his wrongful deportation, US officials began working on plan to fix the mistake and ensure his safety in El Salvador until they could bring him back. Then the Trump administration dug in www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

One of the joys of writing a book is finding out all the things that resonate with readers in unexpected ways

Your beach reads are here

The Economist calls "Stuck" a "fascinating new account of the decline in Americans’ geographical mobility." www.economist.com/united-state...

People keep asking me why I'm so skeptical of the democratic input from community hearings. And the simplest answer is—it's incredibly undemocratic!

Blue cities are supposed to be bastions of opportunity. But as @yappelbaum.bsky.social says, “We’ve driven the housing costs up so high that instead of moving toward opportunity, Americans now move toward cheaper housing, if they move at all.” Stuck in scarcity, we're all suffering.

“People used to move toward opportunity. We’ve driven the housing costs up so high that instead of moving toward opportunity, Americans now move toward cheaper housing, if they move at all.” @yappelbaum.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/14/o...

The political appointees on the Interior Secretary's staff have been asked to do some unusual things for taxpayer-funded roles, including ensuring a daily supply of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. From @ashleyrparker.bsky.social and @michaelscherer.bsky.social

Great reporting here from @aaronwiener.bsky.social on the quarter-century fight to build multifamily housing on a Metro station parking lot in Takoma. You will not find a better example of systemic dysfunction: www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Has there every been a more 🔥 paragraph about zoning than this from @yappelbaum.bsky.social's Stuck? Holy guacamole. (Everybody should read this book)

NEW: In a court filing this evening, the Trump administration said that it had mistakenly deported a Maryland father to a notorious Salvadoran prison due to an "administrative error." www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

A deeply reported story about Ayn Rand's most slavish follower—and the perils of living a life in service to self-interest:

Hard to believe this is real—but it is: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

This Wed, Mar 19: How did America cease to be the land of opportunity? @yappelbaum.bsky.social @theatlantic.com will discuss his new book with our @dluberoff.bsky.social at @portersqbooks.bsky.social in Cambridge. In person only, registration required. www.jchs.harvard.edu/calendar/stu...

Thanks so much to everyone who came out, or watched the livestream. They told me we set a record for questions tonight, as we ran well past the scheduled ending.

🎯 FASCINATING revelation: The secret link between America's housing crisis and political polarization. Join Yoni Appelbaum as he breaks down his groundbreaking book "Stuck" and why we should all care 👍 Tune in here: bit.ly/abstuck

New #TalkingHeadways! @yappelbaum.bsky.social drops by the show to talk about his new book Stuck. Lots of great history and ideas about how we got to where we are today. bit.ly/3QDkVIR @usa.streetsblog.org

The book tour starts tonight—hoping to meet many of you in person over the coming weeks!

If you're in DC, come hear @jeffreygoldberg.bsky.social grill me about "Stuck" at @politicsprose.bsky.social on the Wharf, at 7pm

Really excellent interview by @chrislhayes.bsky.social with @yappelbaum.bsky.social. The thing that blew my mind: America’s very first zoning law was explicitly designed to move Chinese people out of white neighborhoods in Modesto, CA by moving the laundries. open.spotify.com/episode/506I...

keenon.substack.com/p/episode-22... @yappelbaum.bsky.social on how the biggest American problem is one of mobility, especially in housing

Had a great conversation with @chrislhayes.bsky.social about "Stuck"—he'd actually read the book, and kept me on my toes: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

“Racial zoning covenants first gained traction in Modesto after the Gold Rush… When Chinese immigrants began to move into predominantly white districts, locals tried intimidation. When that didn’t work, Modesto’s city fathers in 1885 enacted an ordinance to force laundry services into Chinatown.”

My review of the new book “Stuck” by the great @yappelbaum.bsky.social. It’s a wonderful history of mobility in America and all the barriers that have been put up. My only real quibble is that I think mobility is more alive today than he does and in new places. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...