Why do progressive states with lots of wealth often have the worst homelessness problem? Simply put, they stopped building enough affordable housing. Atlantic writer Jerusalem Demsas and California YIMBY policy director Ned Resnikoff explain the obvious answer to homelessness, debunk myths about drugs and mental health, and spell out what needs to change in government policy and neighborhood sentiment.

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Follow Jerusalem Demsas and Ned Resnikoff on Twitter @JerusalemDemsas and @resnikoff.

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Check out these resources from today’s episode: 

• Read Jerusalem’s story, “The Obvious Answer to Homelessness”: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/01/homelessness-affordable-housing-crisis-democrats-causes/672224/

Find out why homelessness rates are so much better in Houston than Los Angeles: http://cayimby.org/housing-first/

Learn about the relationship between inequality and homelessness: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716220981864

Find out who turns up to community input meetings and how that impacts local policies: https://www.politicsofhousing.com/research/neighborhood_defenders_handout.pdf

Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community: https://www.covid.gov/

Order Andy’s book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165 

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