Welcome to Where We Go From Here, a newsletter and podcast about the past, present and future of housing, planning and urban development from Alex Schafran.
What should I expect from WWGFM?
There are currently two sections - California Housing, which focuses on very wonky and political issues of relevance to California housing policy, and Bigger Ideas, which has pieces that go beyond California. You can subscribe to each separately, but be warned that it’s a fine line. Unfortunately, I currently can’t cross-list pieces.
The goal is to be productive and provocative - I’m not trying to get a rise out of folks, but to push leaders and readers to think and talk and act more productively in addressing our housing / inequality / climate crisis. This stuff has to work. The first rule of WWGFH is that the best ideas are ones that make even better ideas more possible in the future.
I will be aiming this at folks who already have experience in these issues, but will try to include links for folks trying to get up to speed.
In 2023, I will try to publish every 2 weeks, alternating between written posts and podcasts with an edited transcription. I promise my readers that content will always be readable, even as we dip a toe in other formats.
Who am I?
I am a longtime writer about housing, planning and racial segregation. My first book, the Road to Resegregation: Northern California and the Failure of Politics, looks at how and why the wealthiest and most progressive region in the US became an epicenter of resegregation and foreclosure. My newest book, The Spatial Contract is an attempt to imagine what a new politics of housing, transportation, energy and other systems could look like - and how part of this change involves making these systems central to our politics.
As an academic, I have also published more than 50 articles on housing tenure, segregation, housing activism, regional geography, urban and suburban discourse, and more. My newly revamped website - alexschafran.com - highlights some of my favorite pieces from the past 15 years.
Outside of writing, I have been involved professionally in housing, social work, immigrant rights and academia for 25 years. I began my career at a Head Start in Berkeley, and worked throughout my 20s as an immigrant rights paralegal and activist in California and as a tenant organizer in New York City. I spent most of my 30s and early 40s in academia, where I was Lecturer in Geography at the University of Leeds, and taught urban policy and urban studies at Sciences Po Paris, Sciences Po Bordeaux, and the University of Cergy-Pontoise.
I am now a Visiting Scholar at the Institute of Metropolitan Studies at San José State University, where I am co-leading a transformation of the Institute focused on improving public understanding of urbanization and development in California.
I also have a burgeoning consulting practice centered on helping leaders and organizations change what is possible in California housing and urban development. I focus on working with organizations and groups which share my approach and my commitment. This Substack is partly a way for folks to understand what I’m pushing for - perhaps we can push together? To learn about working with me or hiring me, visit schafranstrategies.com.
And after many years away, I am back in the Mosswood Park area of Oakland, California.
Some ethical notes
This is not scholarship. I am a scholar, and I try to include references to pieces, but I am here to make a point, to put ideas out there, not to show off my erudition. I try to make sure to reference underrepresented writers who have things to say. I strive for readable language. This Substack is part of my healing process from academe, not a replacement for it.
This is not journalism. I am not a journalist, although I admire them and like to borrow their methods. I do interviews with folks, but I’m not pretending to be reporting. If someone is featured in a piece or on a podcast, I work with them to make sure they like how they are portrayed. We edit the transcripts to make us sound good. I want my guests to be as proud of what they say as I am to have them. It’s a collaboration, although I take full responsibility for any errors.
Everything you read is my perspective (or the perspective of the interviewees). Again, this isn’t journalism or academic writing as they are sometimes understood. This is 100% a highly filtered and very intentional site. Everything is meant to move California housing forward. Period.
I am also in the housing business. Sometimes I have a financial interest in a subject - I get paid by clients to work on these issues, I am a homeowner and write about homeownership. I always have a vested interest in what I write, and yes, you can hire me to work on the things I write about. My company, Schafran Strategies, supports the Substack at the moment, and will always do so in some capacity. At some point I will likely feature my clients on the podcast, or work I do for them in my posts. I do this proudly - we all work hard to try and make real change in California’s housing system. I will also feature people I consider to be my friends, or even quasi-family, and will treat them this way in public.
While I never take money for a standalone piece directly - if I did, you will see it published on their site, and linked to here - housing is my professional world. I will do my best to be honest and transparent about my interests, but if you are concerned, ask a question?
Ethics is a dialogue, or should be. If you have questions or concerns, leave a polite question or comment and I will respond.
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For those who want more
Send questions in. Have any questions about California housing? Questions you'd like me to write about? Send them in! Answers will either come in a dedicated article or a mailbag-style post. We can keep the questions anonymous and edit for clarity.
Soliciting pre-readers. The best writing requires feedback and Where We Go From Here is soliciting pre-readers. If you are a dedicated reader and are willing to take a look at pieces before they launch and offer feedback, please get in touch. We’ll add you into the Google Doc version and give you a shout out in the acknowledgements (unless you want to stay anonymous).
