Housing Crisis Lessons From The States With 12% of America's Population, and 28% of its Homelessness

Hotel California, California Dreaming, California Girls...there are dozens of song titles referencing California, and dozens more songs referencing California culture.

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While the music is some indicator of California’s allure, the amount of people that want to live there also seems to follow suit. Unfortunately the amount of housing that has been constructed over the last several decades does not seem to enter the discussion of the musical California folklore.

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With 12% of America's population, and 28% of its homelessness (The Economist, Sept 2021), California has been battling chronic housing shortages for several decades.

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That being said, there are many lessons we as Canadians can learn from our crisis companions and elders. While we are just starting to feel the ripping forces of housing inequality in our backyards, California provides us a playbook to study that gives years of clues towards what works, what doesn't, what the heart of the issue is all about, and where we go from here.

Theres a lot of meat on this bone, and I hope to carry on this topic as a once a month segment on this channel.

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Please feel free to chime in with you thoughts on the matter, and let’s work together to make some change happen!