... one of those invaluable books that offer a new, revelatory window on familiar problems ... Her book asks the right question: How can we move beyond the corrosive and exclusionary dream of the white picket fence, and instead, safely and happily house all Americans? Yet considering Lind’s adventurous rejection of such a cornerstone of mainstream American thinking and life, her search for solutions is surprisingly provincial ... Even when her reporting demonstrates the limits of many market-driven solutions, this doesn’t seem to inspire her to think any bigger. She doesn’t explore how other countries house people on a large scale, perhaps because many successful strategies require investing heavily in public housing ... Lind exhibits only passing interest in social housing as a solution for this country, dismissing it as a 'one size must fit all' strategy ... She also overlooks the rich history of middle- and working-class cooperative housing in New York City. Lind works for the Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia, heading its Arts + Business Council. She is an inquisitive reporter and writer, but perhaps her colleagues in Philadelphia’s business community wouldn’t welcome an investigation of such left-wing traditions.
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