A few weeks ago, Alan Mallach asked the question, "do urban neighborhoods need homeowners?" Tony Roshan Samara challenges his answer.
By Tony Roshan Samara, Urban Habitat
Alan Mallach concludes his recent commentary on the problem of declining homeownership (Do Urban Neighborhoods Need Homeowners?) with the important reminder that cities and policymakes should not neglect renters.
Yet, his argument leading up to this point is a prescription for continuing a century-old approach to housing that structurally advantages homeowners and disadvantages moderate- and low-income renters. More worryingly, his argument includes misleading statements about the benefits of ownership that indirectly stigmatizes renters.
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