Summary

Chapter 4 traces the history of substandard housing to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. People migrated to cities and "urban land values soared, and landlords began subdividing their properties to make room for renters" (63). A depression known as The Panic of 1837 caused even more subdividing of already tiny spaces such as cellars or attics. These spaces were hardly large enough to move around in, but they cost a great deal. Eventually, tenements appeared in New York City, and they cost even more than nicer apartments uptown.

Chapter 4 then continues to explore the many ways in which the poor, especially poor Black families, are exploited. This exploitation has a long history going back at least as far as the Great Migration (1915-1970). Landlords in poor neighborhoods actually make more money than those in rich neighborhoods because their overall costs are lower while they...