Episode 2248: Yoni Applebaum on why America is STUCK in a Crisis of Immobility

According to the Atlantic’s Yoni Applebaum, America is STUCK - literally and otherwise. In his new book Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. Appelbaum argues that America faces not just a housing crisis but a mobility crisis, with prohibitively expensive housing in prosperous areas preventing people from moving toward opportunity. Applebaum traces how zoning laws, initially driven by racism and classism, have created a system where Americans move less than ever before, despite more wanting to relocate. This decreased mobility has wide-ranging consequences for civic engagement, social cohesion, and economic dynamism. His solution: simplify building regulations, reform housing policy to facilitate mobility, and dramatically increase housing supply.

Here are the 5 KEEN ON take-aways from our conversation with Appelbaum:

* America faces a mobility crisis, not just a housing crisis: People can't afford to move to areas with economic opportunity, which has dramatically reduced the rate of Americans relocating (from 1 in 3 annually in the 19th century to 1 in 13 today).

* Restrictive zoning laws have racist and classist origins: America's first zoning laws were designed to segregate Chinese residents in Modesto, and Berkeley's first single-family zoning aimed to keep out working-class people.

* Decreased mobility has widespread negative effects: Beyond economics, reduced mobility damages civic engagement, social cohesion, and even contributes to political polarization and populism.

* Tenements served a positive historical purpose: Despite reformers' criticism, tenements were vehicles for economic mobility that allowed cities to absorb immigrant waves - a capacity many cities have lost.

* Applebaum offers three solutions: Simplify building regulations, redesign housing policy to facilitate movement rather than keeping people in place, and dramatically increase housing supply ("build baby build").

Yoni Appelbaum is a deputy executive editor at The Atlantic and the author of Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. Appelbaum is a social and cultural historian of the United States. Before joining The Atlantic, he was a lecturer on history and literature at Harvard University. He previously taught at Babson College and at Brandeis University, where he received his Ph.D. in American history.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe