Who really has a seat at the table when it comes to local political participation in housing and development policy? Professor Katherine Einstein of Boston University is a leading researcher on how local participatory inequalities have major implications for rising housing costs, as her findings show that individuals who are older, male, longtime residents, voters in local elections, and homeowners are significantly more likely to participate in planning and zoning board meetings concerning housing development; furthermore, they overwhelmingly oppose new housing construction.
Join us for an important discussion on the many obstacles preventing the construction of dense and affordable housing. Einstein is one of the authors of Neighborhood Defenders: Participatory Politics and America’s Housing Crisis, which focuses on the intersection of local institutions, such as planning and zoning boards, and the political behavior of the people who actually participate in the housing permitting process.