The Affordable City: Strategies for Putting Housing Within Reach (and Keeping it There)

REVIEW

THE AFFORDABLE CITY: STRATEGIES FOR PUTTING HOUSING WITHIN REACH (AND KEEPING IT THERE)

by Shane Phillips

Review by Isabella Niemeyer

ISABELLA is a first-year master’s candidate in the Department of City and Regional Planning with a specialization in housing and community development. She is particularly interested in the intersection between participatory planning, community engagement, and equitable housing reconstruction. She received her undergraduate degree in geography and French from The Ohio State University, and enjoys talking about the Midwest and her dog Percy.Review

Island Press, 2020, 280 pages.

It is difficult to think that solutions to the housing crisis can be surmised in the clever alliterative, “Supply, Stability, and Subsidy”, but Shane Phillips manages to do just that. Bridging traditionally opposing views, Phillips argues that those fighting for housing affordability can come together under future planning policy goals that tackle each of the “Three Ss”. The book is organized into three parts: Principles and General Recommendations, Policies, and Bringing it All Together.

Shane Phillips is an urban planner and currently manages the UCLA Lewis Center Housing Initiative. After working on housing affordability initiatives with a variety of stakeholders, he writes a book to unite “prosupply” and “pro-tenant” parties. The former are those who believe the solution to housing affordability is an increase in housing units, and the latter are those who believe the solution is preservation and protection to fight displacement. Traditionally juxtaposed in housing affordability debates, Phillips uses this book as an opportunity to discuss policy solutions in tandem with one another.

In Part I: Principles and General Recommendations, Phillips lays the foundation for the rest of the book by providing general guidelines for housing policy. Where many books leave this to reader interpretation, Phillips is very clear in the ways in which he outlines principles that can be shared with all those involved in the housing affordability movement. These principles are all broad in scope with examples ranging from focusing on institutional reform to adapting solutions to local problems. Phillips designs Part I to be aspirational, perhaps to the point of delusion. He argues that solving the housing crisis is about “making the moral and economic case for action,” (p. 29) as if community members have not been making moral and economic cases for generations. While it may be difficult to visualize the reality of some of his aspirations, they are central to the mission of the book—to realign positions from both sides. By setting a clear framework from the beginning, Phillips allows the reader to turn their attention to important policy initiatives rather than arguing for one side or another.

Phillips offers concrete policy examples of each of “the Three Ss” in Part II: Policies. Each policy is grounded contextually in a real-world example, and Phillips does an excellent job at discussing the many sides to the policy. Beginning with “supply,” policy examples include ones that many of us hear in the planning field like eliminating parking minimums and density limits. Phillips brings in the more technical side of planning by discussing administrative procedures to speed up the supply market, i.e., “by-right” approvals versus “special use” permits. In terms of Stability, Phillips explicitly discusses tenant rights and how developers and the government can work to create affordable environments without compromising safety. Fundamentally, this section is about transparency and accountability; if the housing system still allows for tenant buyouts, rent hikes, and evictions—all these should be done transparently and with clear guidelines for tenant protection. Finally, Subsidy policies integrate local and federal government involvement into the housing sphere. These offer tax policy initiatives like establishing a real estate transfer tax or taxing flipped homes at a higher rate. Building off other sections, Phillips calls to prioritize housing stability over housing as a wealth creation tool by eliminating homeowner subsidies and increasing the

potential for rental assistance. While these are not at all a comprehensive list of housing policies that may be a solution to each issue, it is a selection of those which may unify.

Phillips offers sound advice and policy guidelines for large metropolitan areas but prefaces any guidance by saying that there is not a one size fits all approach to planning policy. This does mean, however, that he does not account much for areas outside of large metros including rural or suburban communities. While policy measures do have to account for geography, it is important for broad policy guidelines to start to incorporate these geographies into the discussion. By excluding non-metropolitan geographies, Phillips may not be able to discuss the ways in which issues like urban sprawl affect housing affordability.

These policies are further grounded using a timeline in Part III: Bringing It All Together— Phillips categorizes policies in order of immediate, medium-term, and long-term priorities. Unlike many housing scholars who may speak to one group or another, he clearly lists out ways that each person can get involved in the fight for housing affordability. While the designations of priority are crucial, Phillips may be too simplistic in the viability of this timeline. Where Phillips bridges the gap between pro-tenant and pro-supply discourse in this part, he does not explicitly discuss how to implement these policies. It is clear that he understands the nuance of these issues, but he does not go into detail about how this nuance may affect the way that these plans are implemented.

It is easy to remove human life from the discussion around housing policy—to reduce it as a conversation for policymakers and developers. Housing policy needs to be accessible to communities it desires to protect so that they have a stake in the conversation. The Affordable City is an incredibly thorough review of modern affordable housing initiatives written in a way that can be understood by many. Phillips writes effectively, cohesively, and offers an insightful curation of policies and guidelines. Unlike other works, it is readable to those without broad policy knowledge, and it does not offer platitudes or easy excuses which may bring those with differing opinions to the discussion. Housing is a robust and complex topic that must be discussed with curiosity, compassion, and cohesion—Phillips offers all this and more in this book.