Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City in Reading with Style

Feb 22, 2016 Cory Day rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction-social-science, non-fiction-architecture-planning, read_2016, gifted, dei

“Even in the most desolate areas of American cities, evictions used to be rare. They used to draw crowds. Eviction riots erupted during the Depression, even though the number of poor families who faced eviction was a fraction of what it is today.”

I’ve read a lot about urban planning. I’ve read a decent amount about housing discrimination and segregation. But this book taught me things and made me add another layer to the things I knew and believed. Desmond himself mentions in his notes at the en “Even in the most desolate areas of American cities, evictions used to be rare. They used to draw crowds. Eviction riots erupted during the Depression, even though the number of poor families who faced eviction was a fraction of what it is today.”

I’ve read a lot about urban planning. I’ve read a decent amount about housing discrimination and segregation. But this book taught me things and made me add another layer to the things I knew and believed. Desmond himself mentions in his notes at the end that the resources available surrounding this subject were minimal at best when he started his research, and that even when eviction was studied it wasn’t necessarily approached from a perspective that would get the most accurate results. When he did his own research, he determined that at least one in eight families in Milwaukee (the city he chose to study for this book, and a fitting one given recent events) is evicted each year. The loss of stability this causes leads to countless additional problems – reduced time to work or search for work, increased expenses and/or loss of property, inconsistency in education and missed school days, health problems (including depression), etc. Talking about one part of the problem of poverty cannot solve it, and the fact that eviction hasn’t been part of the equation is kind of astounding.

In the last few months, I lost my husband after a long illness, moved out of my apartment, and had a brief period of time worrying I couldn’t pay all my bills while waiting for the benefits to come in. I had a massive support network, access to medical and psychological care (both covered by health insurance), and the worst monetary difficulty I had was that I might not be able to pay off my entire credit card bill for a month or so. I still went through a period of depression, and moving, even voluntarily, while feeling that way was something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

I’m not trying to make this about me. It’s not. I’m only pointing out that I had this brief period of time where I didn’t know what I was going to do, where I was depressed even while taking antidepressants, and where I had to try to detangle bureaucratic complications while also figuring out my next steps. And I had everything on my side. The people in this book have nothing on their side. Some of them ended up in poverty because of mistakes they made, but for them one mistake took away all hope and landed them in despair. Many of them have been impoverished most of their lives. They have physical and mental disabilities but minimal access to healthcare of any kind. One of the chapters is titled “Can’t Win for Losing,” and I think that just about sums up the experiences of most of the people Desmond profiled.

Desmond also tells the story beautifully. If it were in the fiction section, he wouldn’t have to change much, since it reads so easily. He made the decision to tell it in third person rather than the more common first person used by other ethnographers; in the notes, he says it’s to take himself out of the story and keep the focus on the subjects. He succeeds admirably, and I found little to criticize in the way he told their story.
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Mar 21, 2016 Joanna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: rws-2016-spring, nonfiction, 2016-read, kindle, bookclub-blsa

This book was chosen by my brand new book club and I'm so glad that I read it. I read this book when I should have been doing other things because the book was so compelling. I'll wait to spell out all my thoughts until after our discussion later this month, but overall, I loved this book.

Further thoughts:
One of the things that was incredibly depressing and also really compelling about this book was the picture painted of just how routine evictions are in the lives of the families living on the ...more

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Jun 25, 2019 Jen from Quebec :0) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ongoing-challenges-and-groups, buddy-reads, favorites, reading-challenge-books, color-challenge-for-book-covers, school, memoirs, historical, copies-i-own, political

Damn! I finished this book MONTHS ago + forgot to mark it as 'read'! Now, I have lent it to someone else + do not have my copy atm, so (sadly) this one will be a 'review to come'. Bummer. --Jen from Quebec :0) (PS) This was an amazing 'eye-opening' book, though. One that I am glad to own. ...more

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Mar 21, 2017 Bucket rated it it was amazing

Shelves: economics, non-fiction, reviewed, race, class, ohsu-marcomm-book-club

Heartbreaking and fascinating. An excellent case for massive changes to housing policy and a close look at one huge reason why breaking the cycle of poverty is very nearly impossible without proper public resources and support.

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Dec 03, 2017 Kathleen (itpdx) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lwv-book-group, non-fiction

Desmond shows the impact of evictions on poor families in Milwaukie WI. Once a family looses housing stability things can spiral out of control very quickly. He includes the perspective of two landlords who own some of the rentals that Desmond’s subjects cycle through. This book is eye opening especially as my own city faces a homeless crisis.
I recommend this book to all Americans.

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