Home » Resource Hub

Homelessness Is a Housing and Racism Problem

Housing ends homelessness. Although this claim seems logical and obvious, it has come under attack by people frustrated that the growing visibility of encampments in many US cities is affecting their perceived safety and quality of life. Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern analyzed data from 30 of the largest metropolitan areas in the US and report their findings in the recently released book, Homelessness Is a Housing Problem. The book adds compelling evidence to what researchers and advocates have known for decades: high rates of homelessness result from structural factors—namely, challenges in the housing market and structural racism. In this article, Pitkin provides a summary of Golburn and Aldern’s book.

Resource Details

Author(s): Bill Pitkin
Organization: The Urban Institute
Date: 8/25/22
Resource Type: Publication
Topic: Housing Justice & Tenant Support

Related resources (by topic)

Community Movement Builders

Community Movement Builders (CMB) is a Black member-based collective of community residents and activists serving Black working-class and poor Black communities. CMB emerged out of a need to respond to encroaching gentrification, displacement and over-policing. CMB organizes to bring power…

Community Purchasing Alliance Cooperative

Community Purchasing Alliance is a social-purpose cooperative — 100% owned by our members — that builds volume to help community institutions (faith, education, housing, non-profit) get better deals on everything that costs money from utility bills to maintenance services, copier…

Cooperation Jackson

“Cooperation Jackson is an emerging vehicle for sustainable community development, economic democracy, and community ownership. Our long term vision is to develop a cooperative network based in Jackson, Mississippi that will consist of four interconnected and interdependent institutions: a federation…

Cooperation Milwaukee

Cooperation Milwaukee is an egalitarian community-based collective committed to education, resources and organizing of cooperative economic enterprises, mutual aid and community assemblies in the greater Milwaukee area. Cooperation Milwaukee is directly democratically controlled and is organized to fulfill this mission.

Help us expand the Resource Hub

Share resources that you think would be a good addition to this tool and our team will review them for inclusion in future updates.