Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Evicted summary
Matthew Desmond
Poverty and Profit in the American City
16 mins
Table of Contents
Evicted
summarized in 6 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 6
Evictions have become an everyday occurrence in today’s low-income neighborhoods.
Here’s an all-too-common scene in cities and towns across the United States: clothes, toys and other personal belongings strewn across a front lawn or sidewalk – the scattered remnants of another family evicted by their landlord and forced from their home.
This year, the number of people left without a home after running into difficulties paying rent could reach the millions.
You might think that a typical low-income family in the United States should be able to get by living in public housing or some form of housing assistance. But in reality, benefits like these are scarce; in fact, only one out of every four qualified recipients will receive any assistance at all.
But when it comes to evictions, it can be hard to calculate an exact number.
In Milwaukee, we know that over the course of three years, one-eighth of all the city’s tenants faced eviction. However, census data can overlook a lot of evictions, since a considerable number aren’t formally processed by the housing courts that handle disputes between property owners and tenants.
No matter how you count it, evictions are a national problem. In 2012, New York City courts handled almost 80 eviction cases every day.
That same year, one out of every nine individuals or households renting a property in Cleveland, Ohio, received an eviction summons to appear in housing court. And in Chicago, it was one in 14.
But the housing situation in the United States wasn’t always this dire.
Even though the struggle to come up with rent money is nothing new, it used to be rare for landlords to resort to evictions – even during the Great Depression. During the 1930s and 40s, records show that an eviction led to the kind of community resistance that would cause a scandal for the landlord.
This is what happened in February of 1932, when a landlord tried to evict three families in the Bronx. A thousand people took to the streets in protest, and the New York Times made a point of noting that it would have been a bigger crowd if it weren’t for the freezing cold temperatures.
Want to see all full key ideas from Evicted?
Key ideas in Evicted
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is Evicted about?
Evicted (2016) tells the heartbreaking story of the individuals and families who struggle to get by in the United States’ poorest cities. Despite their best efforts, many of these people have fallen into a vicious cycle of poverty that has left them at the mercy of greedy property owners who don’t hesitate to evict families at the slightest provocation. To take a closer look at the details of their lives, we’ll focus on the inner city of Milwaukee and the tenants and landlords who populate this deeply segregated area.
Best quote from Evicted
Since 1995, the average price of rent has increased more than 70 percent.
—Matthew Desmond
Who should read Evicted?
- Sociologists
- Students of urban planning and political science
- Local politicians, leaders and policy makers
Categories with Evicted
Books like Evicted
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked
Start growing with Blinkist now
26 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers