Sunbelt Blues: The Failure of American Housing

by Andrew Ross

An eye-opening investigation of America’s rural and suburban housing crisis, told through a searing portrait of precarious living in Disney World's backyard.

Today, a minimum-wage earner can afford a one-bedroom apartment in only 145 out of 3,143 counties in America. One of the very worst places in the United States to look for affordable housing is Osceola County, Florida.

Once the main approach to Disney World, where vacationers found lodging on their way to the Magic Kingdom, the fifteen-mile Route 192 corridor in Osceola has become a site of shocking contrasts. At one end, global investors snatch up foreclosed properties and park their capital in extravagant vacation homes for affluent visitors, eliminating the county’s affordable housing in the process. At the other, underpaid tourist industry workers, displaced families, and disabled and elderly people subsisting on government checks cram themselves into dilapidated, roach-infested motels, or move into tent camps in the woods.

Through visceral, frontline reporting from the motels and encampments dotting central Florida, renowned social analyst Andrew Ross exposes the overlooked housing crisis sweeping America’s suburbs and rural areas, where residents suffer ongoing trauma, poverty, and nihilism. As millions of renters face down evictions and foreclosures in the midst of the COVID-19 recession, Andrew Ross reveals how ineffective government planning, property market speculation, and poverty wages have combined to create this catastrophe. Urgent and incisive, Sunbelt Blues offers original insight into what is quickly becoming a full-blown national emergency.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Sociology, Economics, Urban, Class

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 26, 2021

About the author

Andrew Ross is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, and a social activist. A contributor to The Nation, the Village Voice, New York Times, and Artforum, he is the author of many books, including, most recently, Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City and Nice Work if You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times.

Reviews

[Mai H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is less about the Sunbelt states, and American housing, than the specific problem of Central Florida housing, and Disney's greed.

I won't lie. I've been to Disney World at least five times, and am a contributor to the problem. How much are park goers willing to pay for tickets? How little are park employees paid?

Disney's CEO made $65 million one year. No one person needs that much money when their employees make $8-10/hour, and can't afford regular apartments. The short term rental/motel market in Florida is insane.

Even more insane is the amount of autonomy Disney holds in this region. That's not to say Florida lawmakers, who are notoriously conservative, would do anything about things otherwise. This is a very eye opening, introspective look, into a very much growing problem.

📖 Thank you to Goodreads and Metropolitan Books

[Sara Broad · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sunbelt Blues" by Andrew Ross centers around the lack of unaffordable housing in the Orlando, Florida area, which ultimately leads to locals taking up residence in motels or being homeless. This book really covers a breadth of topics, some of which are specific to this area and some that are representative of the nationwide decrease in affordable housing. Disney's original investment in the community, particularly in Celebration, has petered out and been replaced by their investment in luxury vacation rental, AirBnB conversions, and the private takeover of properties with rents that are far too high for the average wages in the area. Ross spends time living in the motels along Route 192, visits people who reside in the woods, and meets with community members to get a first hand look at the literal impossibility of living a remotely decent life on low wages and in non-existent housing.
I also appreciate how Ross discusses the ecological destruction of one of the last remaining protected areas in Florida and how the state government is promoting construction over land preservation. I think that this book is an important read for understanding how we dire it is that we take action to increase affordable housing, and wages, in America.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fasicnating look at housing/homeless issues in central Florida and the politics of all-powerful Disney

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This looks at the issues with housing in Osceola County and Disney World. He spends a lot of time talking about homeless people who live in motels, the motel owners, the fight for $15 wages, etc.

It is very interesting. I thought the entire book would be about Disney specifically, while doing a deep dive into the business, Florida and the residents. That is here but in chapters.

It covers a lot of ground in a way that I struggled to follow. I guess this was more like an introduction? I also listened to this on audio - highly recommend - so it was easy to get distracted.

I was most fascinated by many cities in the EU wanting the EU to crack down on Airbnb. The author gives some stats tnat seemed quite frightening about how airbnb removes thousands of rental units from the market.

I think this book was good overall, providing a cursory glancs at Florida and the different factors that perpetuate a housing crisis in Osceola County.

[Dree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book would be about housing across the sunbelt, but it focuses on Osceola County, FL, which is a fairly unique place. Osceola County (Kissimmee) is due south of Orange County--Orlando, Disney World, Epcot, etc. Lots of jobs that that are low-paying, and many of those employees live in Osceola, where apartment rents are lower but still unaffordable for many. Celebration, the original Disney planned community, is in Osceola--and even its downtown area was sold to a private equity firm that has let the buildings run down horribly. There are run-down motels that rent by the week, homeless camps in the woods, and subsidized housing for those making under $25k. But those making $25-35k truly struggle to keep a roof over their head and food on the table.

This book is very interesting, but it seems like he did the bulk of his research before Covid, and then had to rewrite parts to squeeze Covid in. Only Covid HUGELY affected his topic, and because things are not back to normal--or a new normal, we don't even know--so many of his conclusions sort of go nowhere and kind of mean nothing. A chapter on a huge new development that is now on hold indefinitely, for example. Everything is in a weird flux and it could get worse than ever, or it could improve.

This isn't the author's fault, per se--I imagine it was kind of a nightmare for him, for his editor, for the publisher.

[Monica M M · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do you get when you mix underpaid workers and drastically declining affordable housing market? Central Florida.

Although I had a vague knowledge of this issue. "Sunbelt Blues" really opened my eyes on the deep impact, multiple causes and levels to this issue.

This is an issue across the nation but as Central FL is at the top of the nation's unafordabilty list it really highlights our failures in the need for affordable housing for all.

This impacted me personally as I live in Central FL and have seen many friends and family deal with most of the issues discussed in this book. It not only made me consider our local, state, national government and agency's policies. But also consider the companies we support that refuse to pay a loving wage to their workers and even offer help to employees on how to file for food stamps and other benefits. So shameful that you can work full time for a large multi million dollar company but can not afford even low income single room housing.

Very relevant discussion not just of the issues and circumstances of the past decades building up to this but the even current issues of the past year. I definitely plan to get a physically copy and re-read this one soon.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audiobook for review.

[Michael Asen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this book a 5 but it just wasn't long enough for me. It was , however, great. Shame on so many people and institutions for letting so many people live substandard lives. I went to Disney World the 2nd month it was open. I was in college then. It will be hard to go back after reading this book because their contribution to the working homeless is so acute. Especially if you are a resident off Florida READ THIS BOOK!

[Aileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly comprehensive for mainly focusing on Osceola County, just a hop over from here. Another great example of the need for rent control and a diversity of housing in this country!

[Lore · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok the title is misleading af - this basically talks about Florida, blames Disney, and uses facts from other regions to support the claims. It’s disjointed and doesn’t really do a good job of making a point.

The interviews/anecdotes used highlight that there is a huge racism problem within the unhoused community which was pretty difficult to hear but makes sense.

I didn’t like the language used, and considering a lot was a paraphrased it feels telling the voice of the author. Tbh shame on me for reading a book written by a SWM I stg.

Anyway this was a chore, very negative, I don’t like it and don’t know what the point of the book was or who the target audience was.

Lots of random facts just thrown together

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

After this read I have a new appreciation for those who have struggled with socioeconomic issues. Polarization in the U.S. (more severe in regional areas like Fla) is eye opening. As a Canadian, seeing glimpses of this in our country is worrisome. After all the insight and facts, ultimately I feel if you have a job, and work 40 hours a week, you are surely deserving of a roof over your head and food on the table.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Required reading if you live in Orlando, a heart breaking situation with no clear answer forward

[Manisha]

Listened to the audiobook.

DNF @ 10%

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Capitalism, what's to be done?

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sociologist Andrew Ross examines the various sorts of housing in the state of Florida and how it is failing its poorest residents. He writes at length about the homeless or near homeless who are living in precarious situations in motels along highway 192, a stretch of highway that is very close to Walt Disney World. The author spent some time living amongst these people who are quite often employed at Disney or one of the other theme parks, but who cannot afford a more permanent housing situation and who are often one paycheck away from living on the street.

He also does spend time with people who are living in a car in a Walmart parking lot, and also living in the woods alongside the highway with the little furniture they brought. As a social worker in the state of Florida, I knew that there were homeless people living in the woods, but I did not know the extent to which they were living there, ie, that there were so many living in the woods, and that they had brought so much stuff with them (one person brought an overstuffed chair, another person a TV and surround sound speakers, and another person actually had carpet). I also didn't know that there were "woods people" in other cities and states; I thought that was just a Florida phenomenon at least in part because of our constant weather. So that was rather eye-opening for me.

The last part of the book was devoted to the vacation home rental in Florida. And that in some cases investors have bought out entire subdivisions in order to rent them out to people, either on AirBnB or similar sites, or on a more longer term rental, to families in need of a home. He reported that over 50% of the state of Florida's homes are rentals. And he pointed out that there are many, many nights where rentals are sitting empty while homeless shelters are packed with people who have nowhere to go. He also wrote about the people who work in fancy neighborhoods, as housecleaners, landscapers, delivery drivers, and such but who are still sleeping at the motel themselves, or living in their car.
Basically this book was a look at how the haves and the have-nots still live in Florida. I liked this book, I think it's an important book. I just think it maybe got a little too in-depth with property taxes and urban development lines in the last chapter or two. I kinda felt my eyes starting to glaze over on those parts. But otherwise I liked this book. So I am giving this book four stars.

[Jesse Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Ross, a journalist and professor in New York, spends inordinate amounts of time in Osceola County, Florida, along a stretch of US Highway 192 that leads to Disneyworld. In this patch of scrubby land, there are thousands of people who are homeless, or all but homeless, living in cheap motels that rent by the week or month, or in tent encampments off the side of the road. Yes, a good number of them are drug addicts or have major health issues, but it's a premise of this book that all Americans need housing first to address their larger health situation: in other words, there are no undeserving poor.

A purely economics-focused way of stating the problem is that a large portion of the population of Osceola County do not make wages commensurate to the median rents in the area, with the most "pressing need" being for households earning "between $25,000 and $35,000 per year," Ross reports. 

A more complex, and politically charged, way of stating the problem is that treating housing as a commodity in open markets is a failed experiment. Market forces have dictated that the area fill up with vacation homes. All units that can be spared have been turned into vacation home rentals, or VHRs (think AirBnB). And resident landlords have been largely replaced by private equity firms, who delay repairs while pushing for maximum market price for all units, even cheap motel rooms. 

Framed this way, the response must be socialistic in nature, not market-oriented. Housing should be seen as a right, meaning the poorest Americans should be given housing that won't be market-priced, ever. The idea is not as revolutionary as it sounds: Ross asks us to remember the Housing Act of 1949, which led to a wave of federally subsidized housing. Problems of equity and quality for that housing should not turn us against the motivation of Truman's larger agenda, the "Fair Deal." Right now, Ross finds local government at the frontlines of increasing housing availability through subsidies and upgrades to the stock, but the policies are doomed to answer demand too slowly, he finds: 

Compared to Orange County, Osceola sees very little pressure from organized advocates and has fewer disposable resources to address its chronic housing needs, so its response has been even more low-key. Over the years, I have watched the county’s planners play the cards available to them. They have simplified building and parking regulations, streamlined the building permitting process, lowered impact and mobility fees for smaller, cheaper, and more densely located units, and facilitated adaptive reuse, especially of motels and ghost malls. They have also tried to lure out-of-town developers to build more diverse and compact housing products rather than the business-as-usual subdivisions of tract homes on freshly bulldozed greenfields. And they have encouraged the county to cobble together funds to subsidize the building of a few affordable complexes. But even with access to bigger pots of government assistance, the supply of privately built affordable residences is guaranteed to lag far behind demand.

Ross's analysis of solutions, in his conclusion, "Housing for All," interviews members of civil society, like Stephanie Porta, director of Organize Florida, to point out that ordinary residents of the state require more representation to get their voices heard in state government; meanwhile the Florida legislature and most of Osceola county are in the pockets of real estate companies, including private equity and major developers like Disney. "Pressure from organized advocates" is needed: Ross makes this point over and over, in every chapter.

We should demand things like "community land trusts," an entity for pulling land and housing off the market forever. Retrofitting cheap motels is a quick solution that could be scaled up. VHRs need to be tightly regulated, as they are starting to be in Europe. (Presumably, private equity firms can be regulated as well, though Ross does not have any material on this.) And sure, hang on to market-oriented solutions: promote higher-density housing stock along US 192 through the tax code.

Most importantly, we, the community of renters and would-be owners, must envision and pursue the housing solutions we want.

Conventional nuclear families, for example, are increasingly thin on the ground these days, while multigenerational units, including the “grandfamily” (in which children are raised by their grandparents), extended or reconstituted families, and other forms of shared living are on the rise. Meanwhile, the dispersal of employment options far outside of the public workplace means that more and more people require homes that can accommodate income-generating activities. New paradigms of public and social housing should reflect these diverse arrangements by incorporating cohousing, granny flats, communes, single-room occupancies, intergenerational group dwellings, and a range of hybrid quarters that anticipate and facilitate how we are likely to occupy, as well as earn a living in, our homes. Risk-averse developers are loath to build for this kind of variety because it upsets their established formulas for profit. The next generation of American housing must take on that challenge. But it will only succeed if it is genuinely centered on people's needs and aspirations.

In the wake of this book, I realize that at age 44, Adam and I must begin investigating where we will be housed as we age, and potentially, lose income. The idea of intergenerational group dwellings makes great sense to me, especially in New York City. I'm a teacher who likes kids but never had any; affordable child care is increasingly difficult to find, especially in Manhattan. Enter Adam and I, uncles for rent!

I said the book is politically charged. Because it looks askance at today's pretentions to "free market" conditions, and because it reviews favorably subsidized housing projects like local-government supported conversion of the cheap motels to long-term rentals, Ross's perspective, strictly speaking, clashes with that of market-oriented housing advocates and experts, such as Edward Pinto of the American Enterprise Institute. In his article, "Market-Based Solutions are the Only Way to Get Home Prices and Rents Back in Line," Pinto argues that subsidy policies work the same way as cheap credit, which gets the market flowing, but increases prices further. Meanwhile, he points to too many regulations constraining new supply as a bigger problem.

However, on deeper consideration, conservative AEI-based Pinto may not be so far off from leftie New Yorker Ross. Among the topmost of his bulleted "market-based solutions," we have:

If Congress wants to help fix this problem, it could begin by withholding federal infrastructure funds from states and localities that fail to implement land use policies that equalize treatment of and promote market rate, economical housing.

Congress would only ever "want to help" if its constituents demanded it. So implicitly, Pinto is on track with Ross in arguing first and foremost for more pressure from local advocates. Given our reading of Sunbelt Blues, Pinto's simple juxtaposition of "market rate" and "economical" seems incoherent: market rate is $1,500 a month, but wages are $2,000 to $3,000 a month for thousands in Osceola County -- Disney workers, for example. So presumably what he means is that these thousands, who can only pay $500 to $700 a month in rent, should pressure Congress to restructure "land use policies." If that doesn't describe community land trusts, what is the structure that Pinto means? Perhaps the lesson here is, Americans need to demand what are effectively state capitalist interventions on their behalf, but be sure to label those "market oriented reforms."

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a course I am co-teaching this upcoming spring where we will be teaching Sean Baker's *The Florida Project.* I was originally teaching a section from Matthew Desmond's book *Evicted.* But Ross' book seemed more on-point by actually interviewing and writing about the people from the certain areas in Central Florida where the film takes place. The book isn't a good overview of the housing crisis from a variety of perspectives (the renters, the landlords, environmental activists) but also a good overview of the U.S. housing crisis from the Great Recession (2008) to the disastrous impact of the Covid 19 pandemic. The massive dispossession of working-class homeowners of color due to variable interest rates to the vulnerability of the same people during the pandemic reveals the perfect one-two punch of disinheritance from home ownership and a moderately steady job. The best part of the book is the conversations that Ross has with people trying to get by-- members from various homeless communities that live along the parameters of hotels in Central Florida, those struggling to afford a hotel room week to week, the former property owners now dispossessed by circumstance and bad luck.

The book builds off of Ross' earlier book, *The Celebration Chronicles* that he wrote 25 years ago when he stayed at Celebration, Florida, the famous planned, privatized community that Disney built. That book offered a rather sophisticated understanding of the community, which didn't simply critique it but pointed towards some of its utopian promises and appeal to its property owners. It is interesting seeing Ross revisit this terrain again, noting how the community, like many, has become vulnerable to private equity groups swooping in, buying property not to invest in it but to sell it off, piece by piece, to the highest bidder, providing a slow motion autopsy of a community.

Ross clearly has some warped love for Florida, as many of us do who live here for a certain amount of time or just feel drawn by the ocean waves and undertow of weirdness that defines the state. He keeps getting drawn back to Florida. He would ostensibly argue that it is a bellwether for larger socio-economic trends engulfing housing in the United States. But, honestly, the book relays he is drawn to weirdos, the everyday people trying to get by and addressing the cards dealt to them day-by-day. They might have unfortunate circumstance, but they don't see themselves as victims, and if anything, they will endure. That's what this book offers in addition to a rather holistic understanding of the recent housing crisis: those who get on each day with perseverance and a certain amount of magical thinking. What could be more American.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Central Florida, especially Osceola County, is a microcosm of all that's wrong with the American housing market.

We start in the run down motels of Route 192, where the low-waged and struggling are stuck because of a lack of affordable housing. These are often the working poor, the backbone of a tourism and leisure economy that pays poorly, stuck in an area with a deficit of affordable housing. Ross spent a lot of time in these motels, and his sympathy for the residents is notable. What's interesting is that he doesn't go for the easy target and simply blame the motel owners. Most of them are small businesses, not corporate, who are also struggling in this market. He points out that they have choices about the kind of market they aim at, and some are terrible people, but there are external traps. Even a good owner requires money to upgrade and maintain their property, and they can't do that when tenants don't pay. The county won't help evict for nonpayment, which sounds kind to the tenants--but it's really about having to avoid finding them other places to live. And it's a step up from the next place we visit: homeless encampments in the woods.

The poor housing of Osceola County is a constellation of factors. First, there's the low wage economy, dominated by Disney. Second is the booming vacation home market, which sucks housing resources and drives up prices. Developers aren't building what's needed, which are apartments. Third is politics: the county does not reinvest money in housing (in fact the tourism taxes can only be used to promote more tourism, under state law) and both the state and county are in hock to the developers. Fourth is the growth of housing as investment, and how corporate landlords and asset stripping have worsened housing. The goal of owning housing and being a landlord is no longer to make a profit by providing a service; it's to strip it of its value, load it with debt, and move on.

Despite being a relatively brief book (about 210 pages of text, plus notes), Ross packs in a lot of information and keeps it from being dry--a lot of it is based on interviews, and is personal and absorbing.

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a look at a key, rising issue in America: the growing scarsity of available affordable housing in America. Ross looks at a community near - the Route 192 corridor in Osceola County near Disneyworld in Florida - to have a look at this overall. The presence of Disneyworld superheats the trend, but it is an overall trend to be sure.

Most of the book looks at people trying to get by and how the lack of housing affects them. There are chapters of permanent hotel dwellers (as seen in the movie The Florida Project), those who live out in the forest area in their own shantytown communities (where the casual racism makes it home for hardly any non-whites), to people being pushed to the margins in towns like Celebration, to those who engage in Vacation Home Rentals (VHR). The overall sense is that the system isn't responding to people's needs, as the goal is to serve the interests of those with more money, and those without enough money are to fend for themselves. That much isn't new, frankly, but what is new is the financialization of housing. Big Wall Street financial companies have delved into the housing market very heavily, seeing it as a source for profit. They typically buy up a large percentage of available housing stock, even new housing, and see it solely as a source of profit. They charge higher rent, engage in less upkeep, and distort the overall housing picture at all.

There are also chapters on environmentalism and land preservation which aren't bad, but didn't really seem to be related to the main thrust of the book. He offers some solutions at the end; sorta. He has ideas on what should change, but it's hard to see how it would change. (Also, he advocates rent control, which strikes me as counterproductive. Hey - it's great for those who currently have a place, but over time increasingly crowd out others, and Florida is one of those states people keep moving to).

[Dan Dundon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who is interested in buying a home in Florida ought to read Sunbelt Blues by Andrew Ross. It will give the reader/listener a better understanding of the housing crisis the state faces and by extension most the rest of the Sun Belt.
Of course, as a Florida resident, I thought I understood why the state is facing a housing crisis. Basically, I thought it was because of high demand created by incoming residents and private equity firms making it impossible for first-time homeowners to compete against big money. But Ross goes far beyond this simplistic explanation and delves into the much more difficult issue illustrated by the marginal housing units surrounding Disney in the Orlando area.
In essence, Ross maintains that the capitalistic market system has simply failed to provide housing that is within reach of working poor and much of the middle class. He makes a strong case that more is needed to be done by local, state, and federal governments to help tackle the issue which has become only worse with the COVID 19 pandemic.
His examination of the town of Celebration serves as a perfect example of the problems with market-oriented housing projects. The role of extended stay hotels in the area is eye opening and concerning. Unfortunately, the prognosis is not encouraging. With the stranglehold the development lobby has on Florida’s pro-business legislature, there is little hope that any meaningful reforms will be enacted anytime soon to address the problem. It seems certain the problem will only get worse before it gets better.
Nevertheless, this is an important issue, one that Ross has done an excellent job of explaining.

[Virginia Schott · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I think the fact that I read this book was fate. I saw it promoted on an Instagram account and tried to go buy it at Barnes and Noble. Twice I tried to process the order and it wouldn't go through ... no explanation, but it seemed as if their website was down. I went onto GoodReads and entered a giveaway for it. Well, two days later I own the giveaway! It was definitely an odd occurrence, but a good one. Thank you to Henry Holt & Co. for providing me with a copy of this book.

After reading this book, I'm just disappointed in Disney. I had watched the Orange County Documentary about 2 years ago and it had really made me think about Disney at a company, and I think that's when the first crack started for me. It astonishes me how much Disney backs away from housing on a corporate level. I know Cedar Fair organizes housing for their employees at different theme parks. Why is Disney so set on staying out of the housing market? I'd love to read another book on that topic. I just don't understand it. I know their are cost factors and economics involved in everything, but I can't imagine something wouldn't make sense on some level. Why are they so opposed to paying a living wage? I will say that 8/10 employees down there that we encounter go above and beyond to make you feel special. The book was a great and I would recommend to anyone, but of course it saddened me to read.

[Devrie Paradowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated this read as a Floridian working to create and preserve affordable housing. Ross listens to the diversity of voices of hotel dwellers and Disney employees struggling to find affordable housing within an economy that caters to temporary visitors with money. Ross talks about the market vehicle for housing and the reality that it doesn't respond to the demand for affordably priced housing when build-to-rent and other housing investment vehicles only respond to investors and not to the community. The primary essence of this is to consider the community. I listened to the audio version of this book on my commute to St. Augustine, a quintessential tourist town. Because I work for a housing partnership, I get lots of phone calls from displaced renters, and listening to Ross's book on my commute to there, to hear people saying that their entire rental communities are being displaced in favor of vacation rentals is disheartening. My work town is historic, and I'm often talking with people who have lived in the area for generations. That level of cultural wealth could soon be erased from a historical town.

I really appreciated Ross's ability to amplify the local Floridian's voices all while making the argument that we need to disrupt the market mechanism for housing and bring the actual dwellers into the solution. I cherish this one. Good job Andrew Ross, and thank you!

[Jeni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sunbelt Blues focuses on the housing market and contributing factors in Central Florida. Equal parts narrative and research, this was an easy and interesting read with enough personal stories shared throughout to keep engagement high and enough research to really introduce the reader to all the factors contributing to the struggles in housing in this area. While sharing the stories of individuals who are tenuously/temporarily homed in motels and "truly homeless" and living in the woods, Ross explores how exactly we got her - focusing on the lack of services available for those between the $25,000 income level that qualifies for government assistance in housing and the $50,000 income level that is the minimum needed for most housing available in the area. Ross also addresses the impact of the boom in vacation housing being built over housing for locals working to support the tourism economy and I found this particularly interesting. While there is no easy answer to the current dilemma in the Orlando area, Ross does explore some solutions that could ease the massive lack of affordable housing in the area through government regulations, increases in pay from the "large players" in the area, and government encouragement for developers to build housing for that key income range.

[Ryan Hiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know much about housing, policy, economics, etc... so I'm not well informed enough to really critique the content of the book. As a casual reader, this book was very informative and full of facts, studies, and statistics, which lent it much credibility. However, the actual writing became a bit dry and full of so much terminology that it was a bit hard to get through at times. I would say, this book was good but dense.

I also got the feeling that while there were many good ideas in this book, it really could've just been a few long articles, not a whole book. At some point, it felt very repetitive for the sake of fleshing out a book, rather than giving new information. Honestly, as a reader with no experience in any of these fields, I would have loved more background information on various terms and histories, which could have brought this book necessary length and weight while not becoming too repetitive.

All that being said, I do not regret reading this book, I learned a lot, and I would recommend it to others, albeit with a caveat about dryness and repetition.

[SheMac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ... I learned a lot e.g. beef is a huge industry in Florida. The author uses central Florida to examine the affordable housing shortage in the nation. He takes all the typical Leftist positions on the topic. I don't want to take the time to address all his arguments but I would like to make three quick points:

1. I am sure both Democrats and Republicans are in thrall to the Mouse King.

2. I hope the author is pleased that Governor DeSantis took steps to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

3. While the author is unhappy with absentee landlords, especially big corporations, of rental property, does he realize that a big reason small-time landlords, who once upon a time controlled 50% of the rental market, are selling out are the rent moratoria? They have been devastating to those individual landlords.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received this book for free through a Goodreads giveaway.*

Excellent and informative book about the dire housing crisis in America. While it focuses primarily on the situation in Florida, the lack of affordable homes is keenly felt across the US.
While reading Sunbelt Blues, I kept recognizing similar issues that trouble my own state and I bet others will as well.

I'm pretty sure reading book caused my blood pressure to go up more than a few times. The naked greed that's on display here is appalling. While it was nice to see that at least some people are actively trying to help, it's pretty clear that the crisis can't be fixed by nonprofits.

I highly recommend this book.

[Stephanie Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

**This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.**

A critical look at the affordable housing crisis and its causes, using Osceola County (Florida) as a case study. On the whole, it’s a successful and persuasive piece about the need to address the lack of available housing for the working-class market and the ways in which both the market and local, state, and national policy have failed to do so.

I do wish that it had been either a little more academic or a little more popular-investigative-journalism. At the moment, it’s floating strangely in-between, and it leaves some conclusions feeling less supported than others.

[Rick Reitzug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some parts of this book were incredibly informative and interesting; other parts complicated, confusing, and thus, tedious. 5 stars for the good parts, 3 stars for the cumbersome parts.

As with so many of the problems that confront us in this country, the failure of American housing is largely due to excessive corporate greed. The rich get richer by moving money around and, essentially, enslaving their workers. The workers work, smile, and then go live in their homeless camps or, if they can manage it on the minimal salaries they've been paid, in their fleabag hotel rooms. Injustice personified...

[Ashlea F C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a timely delve into the complex issues causing the shortage of affordable housing - focusing on one single county in Florida as a parallel for the country at large. Ross' sympathetic and non-judgmental way of drawing out the various characters that inhabit the marginalized fringes of housed/unhoused society was beautiful.

I highly recommend this to anyone to get a new (and in my case, humbling) perspective on the crisis of shelter insecurity that has been only getting worse since the Great Recession of 2008, and which has been peaking during the Covid Pandemic.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very well-researched book and eye-opening book about the housing crisis in Florida, particularly Orlando and Osceola County, but could reflect the U.S. as a whole. It also focused on the low-wage workers, especially Disney employees, who because of lack of affordable housing in the area was forced to live in bedbug and roach infested motels along a strip of the highway that leads to and from the Disney parks. The author over his years of research spent time living in many of these hotels