Housing experts have been reading and passing around "Evicted," by Matthew Desmond, since its release last year. Now the book has won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.
"Matthew Desmond’s Evicted, which won the Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction on Monday, is a deeply humanizing and empathetic book about poverty," writes Henry Grabar.
Grabar's post follows the big acknowledgement for the book by noting its influence on housing experts, which has been, as Desmond proclaims, enormous.
It’s not that Desmond pioneered the idea that, as the Pulitzer foundation puts it, evictions “were less a consequence than a cause of poverty.” But he does give it pathos. And that makes a difference. According to Desmond, after Sen. Elizabeth Warren read the chapter in Evicted about how nuisance ordinances were causing women to get evicted for reporting abuse, she drafted a letter to then–Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro suggesting the department issue guidance to local communities on whether their laws might violate the Fair Housing Act.
Desmond provided an interview for Slate when the book was released in March 2016, and also penned an opinion piece for the New York Times about federal policy related to housing and poverty. Planetizen also included the book in its top books of the year.
FULL STORY: Matthew Desmond’s Evicted Just Won the Pulitzer for Nonfiction. It’s All Housing Advocates Can Talk About.
Op-Ed: The Shortcomings of Matthew Desmond's 'Evicted'
Matthew Desmond's ethnographic study has received critical praise. But David Adler asks whether the book's approach tacitly lets affluent non-landlords off the hook.
Fixing the Harms of the Eviction System
Emily Benfer talks about what needs to change in our housing and eviction systems—not just now, but once the pandemic is past, the connections between health and housing, and how she came to be a go-to voice on the eviction crisis.
Eviction is Not the Answer
The Eviction Lab at Princeton University is using data to tell the story of thousands of tenant evictions. Matthew Desmond, the Lab's director, shares stories of tenants and insights about the compounding danger of mass evictions and COVID-19.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association