Americans spend too much money on housing. Why aren't the candidates talking about it?

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There was a moment during this week’s debates where it seemed like the conversation might finally go there. When former housing and urban development secretary Julián Castro was asked what he might do to help struggling American cities, he said he would invest in affordable housing. “Folks know that the rent is going through the roof.”

Castro’s answer was specifically in response to a question about the president’s attacks on Baltimore, but the solutions could be applied to any city big or small, he continued:

There are a lot of Americans right now that are hurting. Just go and ask the folks that just received notice that they’re getting laid off by General Motors, or ask the many folks who are sleeping on the streets in big cities and small towns across the United States, or ask fast food workers that I joined a couple of weeks ago that are working for minimum wage and can’t provide for their families or pay the rent.

So, you know, I believe that we need to invest in what will ensure that Americans can prosper in the years to come, making sure they have the knowledge and skills to compete in the 21st century economy, ensuring that they can afford the rent where they live and that they have health care so that they don’t have to worry about going homeless because they can’t afford a medical procedure.

It was the most that any candidate had talked about housing at any point during any of the four nationally televised debates. Yet it was not nearly enough. There was no follow up—the moderators quickly pivoted to trade agreements—and no other candidates chimed in to engage or challenge Castro on his ideas.

Most Americans are spending way too much on where they live. A full one-third of American households are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing and utilities. And this is not just an urban issue—the affordable housing crisis is hitting rural areas hard, too.

This is why six candidates now have detailed housing plans, with many overlapping ideas. But compare the campaign coverage of housing to health care, an issue that also affects all Americans. Over an hour was spent talking about health care at each debate this week. Yet as Castro rightly pointed out, health care is directly affected by housing: the reason that many Americans aren’t properly insured or defer life-saving medical treatments is because they’re spending too much money trying to make rent. Catastrophic health events are one of the biggest causes of homelessness.

https://www.curbed.com/2019/8/1/20749799/democratic-candidates-debates-housing-castro

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1. Home owners get rich when apartments are illegal

A lot of homeowners vote. Apartments compete with single family residences. So home owners vote to keep anti apartment zoning.