Book review: Co-ops, commons and the conundrum of cashing in on the American dream

This review is part of a special collaboration between Planetizen and Booked on Planning, a biweekly podcast where AICP planner Stephanie Rouse and Jennifer Hiatt chat with authors of the latest books shaping urban planning today. Listen to the episode with today’s author in the player below. 

The term "social housing" evokes images of towers dotting London neighborhoods or of Vienna, Austria, widely considered the social housing capital of the world. American cities don’t usually spring to mind. "Homes for Living: The Fight for Social Housing and a New American Commons" by Jonathan Tarleton shines a light on a rare exception: the New York City limited equity co-ops created by the Limited Profit Housing Act (known locally as the Mitchell-Lama program) of 1955. 

The story traces the threat to the co-ops' continued existence — a threat coming from internal pressures, not external, as one might expect. The government-backed mortgages that built the co-ops from the 1950s to the 1970s came with decades-long compliance periods that required the units to remain affordable. But when co-ops paid off their mortgages, they could start exploring privatization. This move would give co-operators (i.e. owners) big payouts if they sold, but remove all future affordability for the thousands of families on the wait list for a Mitchell-Lama unit.

In Tarleton’s book, the privatization battle unfolds through the parallel stories of two Mitchell-Lama co-ops — Southbridge and St. James Place. The co-ops are similar in structure, yet different. Southbridge has 1,651 residents; St. James Place has 326. Southbridge is located near the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, while St. James Place is in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

Historic development patterns also colored each co-op’s privatization perspective. While both had relatively strong diversity in residents, St. James Place had a higher percentage of Black co-operators. This led to a unique argument for privatization at St. James Place, where some residents felt the historic injustices of the housing market that excluded Black people from buying homes and accumulating wealth entitled them to the full market value of their unit under privatization. 

 Throughout these two stories, Tarleton relays first-hand accounts from residents of the buildings on both sides of the issue, weaving a larger narrative and call to action. Projects like the Mitchell-Lama co-ops are important because housing has been commodified. It’s becoming increasingly harder to house low- to moderate- income families. “It takes an abundance mindset to recognize that resisting enclosures —or privatization, as the case may be — creates the opportunity for there to be more for all,” writes Tarleton.

"Homes for Living: The Fight for Social Housing and a New American Commons" is not just an interesting story about co-op housing in New York City. The book ends with a look at a few other housing strategies to decommodify land and housing that are gaining traction nationally. From reviving the commons through land trusts to the slow and steady advocacy efforts of tenant rights groups, Tarleton shows how communities are paving a path forward to creating a more equitable and affordable housing ecosystem.