Golden Gates

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Spacious and affordable homes once symbolized American prosperity, but today, soaring rents and ownership costs have transformed housing into a stark representation of inequality. This crisis is particularly evident in the San Francisco Bay Area, where tech workers commute past makeshift shelters of the homeless. California's situation serves as a cautionary tale for the nation. Through compelling storytelling and in-depth reporting, New York Times journalist Conor Dougherty examines America's housing crisis from its West Coast epicenter, revealing the historical and economic factors that led to this moment. He highlights grassroots activism emerging alongside rising housing costs, featuring a struggling math teacher who rallies for change in single-family neighborhoods, a teenage girl leading her apartment complex against rent hikes, a nun striving to counter private equity by acquiring affordable homes, a suburban bureaucrat advocating for density in light of climate change, and a developer creating housing for the homeless via assembly line methods. With a broad perspective and personal narratives, this account captures a significant political shift amid rapid technological and social transformation.