'Home-Ownership Society' Not Necessarily Best for Community

"A sizeable amount of research on homeownership backs up this valorization [of homeownership as a higher form of citizenship]. The obsession begins with the theory that single-family homeownership represents a substantial financial investment in a community. This means, the theory goes, that homeowners are less likely to move, more likely to encourage maintenance of property and more likely to care about how their neighborhood environment is affected than their rent-paying peers. Yet, in my years of running an economic development organization—as well as being a homeowner myself—I have seen how homeownership can also compel people to focus inward at the very expense of the community around them."

Thanks to Michael Dudley