Eviction Lab digs into the data behind the housing crisis
Since the publication of his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Evicted, Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond has been mining court records across the United States to build a database of millions of evictions. His new Ford-supported project, Eviction Lab, is the first nationwide database of evictions, allowing people to understand the patterns emerging in their communities. The New York Times unpacks the data, which offers a sweeping, surprising look at the state of housing in America. And on Marketplace, Desmond explains why the housing crisis might be even bigger than we thought.
Published in the New York Times | April 7, 2018
In 83 Million Eviction Records, a Sweeping and Intimate New Look at Housing in America
By Emily Badger and Quoctrung Bui
RICHMOND, Va. — Before the first hearings on the morning docket, the line starts to clog the lobby of the John Marshall Courthouse. No cellphones are allowed inside, but many of the people who’ve been summoned don’t learn that until they arrive. “Put it in your car,” the sheriff’s deputies suggest at the metal detector. That advice is no help to renters who have come by bus. To make it inside, some tuck their phones in the bushes nearby.
This courthouse handles every eviction in Richmond, a city with one of the highest eviction rates in the country, according to new data covering dozens of states and compiled by a team led by the Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond.
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