ABSTRACT
Residential neighborhoods typically cluster by social class, including those for the elite, middle class, working class, and low-income populations. These consistent patterns are the outcome of the operation of the housing market, labor market, planning and zoning boards, homeowners' associations, real estate firms, and mortgage lenders.
Since the 1980s, the US has experienced growing inequality in incomes and the shrinking of the middle class. This economic pattern is reflected in the changing housing market: an increase in upscale housing for the ultra-wealthy, a crisis of affordability for the middle and working classes, and a surge of homelessness for poor people. Although some cities and states have changed their housing regulations to encourage more affordable housing construction, the federal government has failed to provide adequate subsidies for those shut out of the private rental market.
