Reflection: Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State, by Samuel Stein

In this book, author Samuel Stein demonstrates just how much our global and local economies rely on real estate development for GDP creating what he called the ‘Real Estate State’. According to Stein and Schwartz, there is no county in the US where a full-time minimum wage worker can afford an average two-bedroom apartment. Rent burdens continually constitute most of people’s overall financial burdens, year after year. For this book, Stein essentially embraces the question every planner asks: “How can we improve cities without sparking displacement?” (p.9).

One thing that stood out to me from this book is the idea that planners are less land use managers than they are wealth managers, as their roles have come to be. By examining how we’ve gone from manufacturing and industrial cities to hot spot residential resorts through the lens of a city planner, Stein gives the reader a glimpse into housing as the most lucrative industry in US cities.

Stein defined various types of planners from rational comprehensive and communicative to advocacy and equity planners. By doing so, he brought the reader to the same level for a more fruitful read. One of the most impactful parts of the book was an anecdote from those in Harlem are afraid of improvements to their neighborhoods, knowing those improvements are not for them and that they mean displacement (p.67).

Another point Stein makes which I think is important to note is that, in New York City, it seems the real estate state is almost inescapable, no matter the party in charge. He makes historically substantiated points on the evolution of how real estate has come to rule our states. As an industry reliant on rising land values, renters, who are often low-income minorities, are the most vulnerable to displacement.

It seems like some of the most harmful things identified by Stein include the excessive use of public-private partnerships in NYC and inconsequential community input: “The people must have their say, but their options must be limited.” (p.31). However, I think this book gave too much blame to planners. Functionally, planners are instruments of the governments they work for and putting the onus of planning equitably on just planners puts them in a difficult position.

Stein made a good point on the symbolism of having a real estate developer as President. While I already agreed that Donald Trump was corrupt to maintain his properties and capitalize off his Presidency, I did not realize the powerful symbolism that represents him and the industry as a whole – using government and taxpayer dollars to line his own pockets. The history of Donald Trump’s family did seem to reflect the different mechanisms for exploiting municipal governments and its planners for profit. From his great grandfather dodging the German draft to Donald Trump dodging the American draft, the exploitation of the public is ingrained. Starting with exploitation of speculation based on future transportation infrastructure by Friedrich and blatantly racist and discriminatory housing policies by Fred to exploitation of public housing regulations and racism by Donald Trump, exploitation runs in the family.

Some of the suggestions Stein made to remedy the housing crisis and rule of real estate were great, but not applicable to many cities or suburbs in the US which may be smaller but also struggle with gentrification. Of the suggestions Stein made, application of inclusionary zoning to white enclaves seemed the most obvious and applicable even in suburban areas. Integrating wealthier whiter neighborhoods instead of displacing poor people of color is clearly beneficial. One obstacle to this could potentially be the community feedback aspect of urban planning and who participates. We know that white people are highly participatory in local politics and people of color who do participate are often not heard.

Stein also suggests using historic preservation boards to the advantage of the working class and through preservation of character and housing. Additionally, the third and most robust strategy given was rent controls. While this seems to be a crucial tactic in New York City and other metropolises like San Francisco or Detroit, it does not seem applicable to growing cities. Further, creation of nonspeculative urban housing sounds fascinating, but requires intense community activism. The “right to sell” bill seems like one of the more applicable preventative measures to gentrification. By being able to sell their homes to the city, lower socioeconomic status occupants can make some money and that home is used to give back to the lower SES community through public housing.

The most important measure to mitigate gentrification is reexamining taxes and property. Funding education through property taxes is one of the most well documented and worst ways to help uplift communities. It is a vicious cycle of generations bound to poor education and poverty. Within that, Stein suggests cities tax any revenue traced to public initiatives or amenities. This would be highly effective given that the signal for gentrification is improved local amenities, at the cost of current residents who may not enjoy them in the future.

Stein’s last suggestion to reindustrialize cities may have potential but seems an inadvertent way to drive other forms of wealth out of the city potentially. Additionally, there would be greater concerns of air quality due to increased manufacturing.

Additionally, the principles defined at the end apply only to highly dense cities, not smaller cities like Gainesville or even Fort Lauderdale where gentrification is rabid. This book was about undoing mass gentrification, but I would have appreciated some time devoted to tactics which could be applied to reduce and prevent mass gentrification and displacement.

This book, towards the end, felt like a planner’s Communist Manifesto-lite. Saying that real estate comprises “60% of the world’s assets,” demonstrates just how much our global economy relies on real estate for revenue and economic flows. While I completely agree that the primary principle of planners should be public stewardship, this book’s conclusion relies on communism too heavily, even citing Karl Marx and discussing the seizure of the means of production. Furthermore, I wish this book provided opposing arguments to Stein’s own with comprehensive refutation to prepare people who may use his book for planning and experience backlash.

This book was actually a reading for a course, Housing in the United States. Thank you Mr. Suarez!