Golden Gates

Fighting for Housing in America

By: Conor Dougherty

Narrated by: Conor Dougherty

A Time 100 Must-Read Book of 2020 • A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • California Book Award Silver Medal in Nonfiction • Finalist for The New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism • Named a top 30 must-read Book of 2020 by the New York Post • Named one of the 10 Best Business Books of 2020 by Fortune • Named A Must-Read Book of 2020 by Apartment Therapy • Runner-Up General Nonfiction: San Francisco Book Festival • A Planetizen Top Urban Planning Book of 2020 • Shortlisted for the Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice

“Tells the story of housing in all its complexity.” (NPR)

Spacious and affordable homes used to be the hallmark of American prosperity. Today, however, punishing rents and the increasingly prohibitive cost of ownership have turned housing into the foremost symbol of inequality and an economy gone wrong. Nowhere is this more visible than in the San Francisco Bay Area, where fleets of private buses ferry software engineers past the tarp-and-plywood shanties of the homeless. The adage that California is a glimpse of the nation’s future has become a cautionary tale.

With propulsive storytelling and ground-level reporting, New York Times journalist Conor Dougherty chronicles America’s housing crisis from its West Coast epicenter, peeling back the decades of history and economic forces that brought us here and taking listeners inside the activist movements that have risen in tandem with housing costs.

©2020 Conor Dougherty (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"The cost of buying a single-family home or even renting a small apartment in a convenient, desirable location is one of the most pervasive conundrums facing Americans today. Perhaps no other phenomenon drives income inequality as starkly as housing.... While Dougherty provides plenty of macro-level research about housing across the nation - and especially in San Francisco - the major strength of the narrative occurs at the micro level...poignant and thought-provoking.... A readable, eye-opening exploration." (Kirkus)

"Golden Gates is a terrific work of explanatory journalism. If you want to understand the colliding forces that have turned the San Francisco Bay Area into a housing powder keg and threaten to engulf many more cities across the country, you need to read this book." (John Carreyrou, New York Times best-selling author of Bad Blood)

"A tour de force. It’s a rare book that mixes careful, nuanced reporting, painless economics lessons, interesting history of California, and pitch‐​perfect humor, but Dougherty has written one.” (Cato Institute)

Good but I have some issues

Conor tends to describe the male activities as boring and the female activists as crazy or bossy. Why is that?

Great!

A case study of sorts about the complicated world of affordable housing. Doesn’t argue one way or another, presents facts and follows people who decided to take a stand around certain housing politics.

Essential Reading

Essential reading for the issue that affects nearly everything in society: housing and affordability. Well-written and insightful narrative. You won't see housing the same way after hearing this book.

Should be required high school reading

Great “sequel” to Triumph of the City. Both books should be required reading by all public employees and high schoolers.

Outstanding Story and Housing Crisis Analysis

I have just completed listening to Conor Dougherty's book, Golden Gates, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I teach a graduate level course on the Berkeley Campus at the University of California, and a number of our classes have focused on the housing crisis in California. I have read several of Conor's articles in the New York Times describing the background of the crisis, but Golden Gates really put everything in an incredibly provocative and informative context. Occasionally, when the author is the narrator, it loses something in presentation. However, Conor's narration was outstanding, as was his book. I highly recommend Golden Gates to anyone interested in learning more about the background to and approaches to resolving the housing crisis in California and throughout the nation.

Solid view of housing politics in California

The housing crisis isn’t new, it’s been a steadily evolving menace in California since the 50’s, an issue unlikely to be solved anytime soon.

Great modern overview of how we got here, and those working to create solutions.

Good Book

I enjoyed the book. I did think the stories were scattered and all over the place at times.

Good story - one person can make a difference

It tells story of how one person started a non-profit advocacy movement for affordable rents. I think that this makes the case that religious organizations can make a difference.

Very Informative

This author is a try storyteller. I enjoyed both the content and delivery. He took a very pertinent and relevant topic that could have been very boring and made it informative and entertaining. This is a really good look inside local government.

great breakdown of a complex issue

it was a great breakdown of a complex issue. not too much narrative, enough background to get the reader up to speed, enough examples to explain the complexity of the issues. though not a perfect all encompassing of all the issues related to housing, a great attempt and great read.