Our Society Reimagined 2021: Housing
Our Society Reimagined is a four-week series that provides an opportunity to explore the domestic issues that have shaped our modern society, as well as a chance to gain perspective on the underlying values and ideas that we hold as individuals and as a society, and how these tenets shape our lives.
The 2021 series will take place virtually from 6:00-7:30 pm MT on Wednesdays, October 20, October 27, November 3, and November 10.
Tom Morrison and Clint Kinney will return to moderate the series.
Session 3: Wednesday, November 3
Housing
Providing shelter to individuals in our society is one of the most fundamental requirements of a functioning society. In many of our popular urban centers, the price of housing has doubled as a percent of income since the 1980s. The demand for housing is massively outpacing supply, in part because local zoning laws, building codes and “not in my backyard” opposition to new development is hampering supply and driving up home prices. Single-family zoning is being blamed for creating racial inequalities and a lack of equal opportunity in childhood education. Historical lending practices have left significant racial gaps in home values and family wealth. The creation of HOAs has shifted many traditional local government functions to developers and subsequently to often politically challenged owners’ groups. Local workers are being priced out in many markets like Aspen, thereby creating significant labor challenges. How far should government go to address these inequalities and supply challenges, or should they simply be left to market forces?
Registration for Our Society Reimagined is now closed. If you’d like to put your name on the waitlist, please email Zoë Brown at zoe.brown@aspeninstitute.org.