What We Learned From the Deepest Look at Homelessness in Decades
About this episode
Ezra Klein interviews Atlantic staff writer Jerusalem Demsas about the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative's landmark California study — 3,200 questionnaires and 365 interviews, the deepest look at homelessness in decades. The central finding: homelessness is a housing problem, concentrated where housing is scarcest and most expensive, which is why California's rates dwarf other states. Most respondents became homeless after moving to high-cost areas; many experience trauma, incarceration, and addiction, but those are not the primary drivers. Demsas argues Housing First works — Houston's model kept 86 percent of people housed — and rebuts myths about migrants and investors. Klein presses a 'disorder' framing, arguing visible street disorder erodes support for liberal cities; Demsas counters that criminalization does not solve homelessness. They agree on building more housing while disagreeing on policing's role.