California had a housing crisis before the COVID-19 pandemic, and it will have a housing crisis afterwards. The underlying cause is simple to describe and painfully difficult to address: too much demand for too few homes and apartments, leading to too high prices. The result is lack of affordability, long commutes, environmentally injurious sprawl, persistent racial segregation, and housing insecurity leading to homelessness. The economic recession resulting from the pandemic will only exacerbate these trends. In this UC Center Sacramento Special Conversation, Conor Dougherty (New York Times reporter and author of Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America) speaks with Carol Galante (Distinguished Professor in Affordable Housing and Urban Policy and the Faculty Director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley). Dougherty and Galante will cover topics ranging from the impact of the pandemic on California’s housing prospects, the argument for greater housing density, the relationship of housing to inequality, and sensible alternatives to both the ranch house and the high-rise. The audience will have ample opportunity to ask questions.
Carol Galante is the I. Donald Terner Professor in Affordable Housing and Urban Planning at UC Berkeley and the founder and Faculty Director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation and the Terner Housing Lab, a new accelerator program working with early-stage ventures on housing affordability. Galante previously served in the Obama Administration as Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing Programs. Prior to her appointment at HUD, she served for over ten years as President and CEO of BRIDGE Housing Corporation. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Factory OS, an innovative new company changing how we build. Galante holds a Master of City Planning from UC Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts from Ohio Wesleyan.
Conor Dougherty is an economics reporter at The New York Times and the author of Golden Gates; Fighting for Housing in America. He has been reporting on business and economics for two decades and previously worked at The Wall Street Journal and San Diego Union-Tribune. Dougherty lives in Oakland with his wife and two children.
In light of the community concerns regarding COVID-19, this talk will be given as a webinar. The link will be provided on Wednesday, July 22nd to those that have registered by 5:00 pm on Monday, July 20th.