The City of Grand Junction is hosting a series of book club meetings beginning March 1, 2023, with a focus on housing. The first book chosen for 2023 is titled Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems by Jenny Schuetz. Each session will include a guided discussion and when relevant, a guest attendee will be invited to offer context on that session’s material.
Book club meetings will be offered in two timeframes: one in a four-week series to be held Wednesdays from 1-2:30 p.m. beginning March 1, and another planned for five weeks on Tuesday evenings from 6-7:30 p.m. beginning April 18, 2023. All sessions will be led by city staff and take place at the Mesa County Libraries Central Branch at 443 N. 6th Ave. Space is limited. Registration is free.
The book, Fixer-Upper, assesses how the broad set of local, state, and national housing policies affect people and communities. The author does more than describe how yesterday’s policies led to today’s problems. In the book, she proposes practical policy changes that can make stable, decent-quality housing more available and affordable for all Americans in all communities.
This book explores the key structural problems within U.S. housing systems that contribute to widely disparate outcomes and how policies that govern seemingly different parts of the economy – from local school funding to federal transportation policy – interact to reinforce bad housing outcomes. Schuetz identifies gaps between how economists believe markets ought to work and how housing systems work in practice. For each structural problem, the author proposes a set of policy changes that would improve housing outcomes for individuals and communities.
Author Jenny Schuetz is a senior fellow at Brookings Metro. Her research focuses on urban economics and housing policy, particularly how government policies impact housing affordability and economic opportunity.
More information and to register for either book club series.