Housing proves a hot topic in Charlotte

With community discussion and research ongoing around the problem of a lack of economic mobility in Charlotte, a Sept. 27 public lecture by Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer-winning author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, drew such demand that the free public tickets were snapped up in less than 24 hours.

Desmond will speak at 6:30 p.m. at McGlohon Theater at Spirit Square. The event organizers recommend that anyone wishing to attend should still register here to be put on the wait list, as some seats are expected to open in coming weeks. If you’ve registered and learn you can’t attend, event organizers ask you to please cancel your ticket to let some wait-listed registrants attend. This can be done on the registration site, or by emailing mnewsom@charlotte.edu.

Author Matthew Desmond will speak Sept. 27 in Charlotte. Photo: Michael Kienitz

Desmond’s best-selling book explores eviction as both a symptom and a cause of poverty, and illustrates how some businesses make their profits by targeting people in extreme poverty. It stemmed from years of carefully gathered data and ethnographic research in two low-income Milwaukee neighborhoods, and tells the stories of eight families living on the edge, and two landlords who interact with them.

In conjunction with Desmond’s appearance, as many as 40 local book clubs are studying the book. See evictedbookclubclt.org for more information. The nonprofit Foundation For The Carolinas purchased 600 books for use by the book clubs; all 600 have been claimed.

After a highly publicized academic study ranked Charlotte 50th out of 50 cities in upward mobility for children (see the study here