Everyone deserves housing.
And yet, current and historical practices of exclusionary policy, rising rents, and slow development have contributed to the affordable housing shortage, inequitable evictions, and broad displacement that make up the “housing crisis” today. Whether or not you’ve heard of this term, it's important to understand the elements that make this such a complex problem.
We believe that knowledge can empower positive change— this crisis is complex, but this is a great place to get started. Understanding the legacy of the past will help contextualize the present, and work towards a more just future. We hope you'll come away with an understanding of the affordable housing crisis by exploring this case study of Richmond, CA.
Located in Contra Costa County in the East San Francisco Bay Area, the city of Richmond is racially and economically diverse. Richmond feels like the average American city. A small, working-class suburban community, it went through a period of post-WWII industrialization and has a vibrant town known for grassroots engagement, including in the housing space.
*statistics of 2021 Census
Photo credit: Richmond, CA Wikipedia
Homeownership is one of the primary methods for building generational wealth and accessing the improved quality-of-life that comes with it. Owning a home can provide greater stability than renting by allowing residents to stay in their community, build long-term equity, and to invest in their community’s education and other public services through their home’s property taxes. Like many other cities in California, Richmond’s homeownership has often been restricted to wealthy white neighborhoods and maintained through policies such as Proposition 13, which defines state increase in property tax.
In Richmond, white residents own homes at more than 2x the rate of Black residents and 1.3x that of Hispanic residents. Meanwhile, Hispanic residents rent almost 2x more and Black residents rent around 1.5x more than White residents.
Who is evicted is related to one’s socioeconomic and geographic reality. Eviction is one of the most common methods of displacement, which is when a resident is forced to move against their will. Displacement can have negative effects ranging from worse physical and mental health, more emergency room visits, lower educational outcomes for children, food insecurity, to higher rates of future homelessness.
Using data from when tenants are officially removed from their home by the county sheriff from January 2017 to March 2022, the Eviction Research Network finds that there are significant racial disparities in evictions in Richmond. Note that this dataset is a severe undercount of the actual number of evictions occurring, but still represents the overall trend.
This map shows neighborhoods with the highest levels of recorded evictions: the Iron Triangle, Panhandle, and Hilltop. These neighborhoods are predominantly Black and Hispanic. The current housing landscape places the vulnerable - who are often racial minorities - in precarious situations rather than support them.
While eviction moratoria during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced overall evictions in 2020, Black and Hispanic residents are still evicted at higher rates compared to White and Asian residents. In 2017, there were 3.5 Black and 2.5 Hispanic evictions for every 1 White eviction. In 2021, there were 3.5 Black evictions and 4 Hispanic eviction for every White eviction.
All of these factors are tied with financial instability and housing vulnerability, which is exacerbated by an eviction.
The housing crisis impacts everything—there is no “one size fits all” solution. Thinking of all the work needed to create affordable housing, it can feel impossible to know where to begin.
Well, you just took the first step by learning about the history behind the housing crisis, how it manifests today, and what solutions might look like. Becoming an informed citizen leads to informed action—action that can make a difference.
We invite you to hover and click on each window of the multi-family home below to reveal an action you can take to help facilitate a future of affordable housing for all. We’re all on this journey together.
A future of affordable housing is possible through action— we hope you continue your journey.
The best way to support your action is to keep informed. You can engage with similar educational materials.
Anti-Eviction Mapping Project: AEMP
There are numerous organizations you can support and volunteer with to help those impacted by the Affordable Housing Crisis. The list below is some local to the Richmond area.
So much of this crisis is enforced by policy. Your vote on zoning laws, and other housing related policy matters—getting politically involved is a way to shape the future. Here is a list of resources for to understand and protect housing rights.
Understand the city's vis-a-vis housing by learning about it's rich history. Here are a few options.
Take the East Bay Yesterday walking tour.
Visit the Richmond Museum of History & Culture.
