Public Housing in Private Hands

The Public Press is focusing on the most vulnerable renters in the nation’s most expensive housing markets.

Yesica Prado / San Francisco Public Press

A private developer proposes that Plaza East Apartments in San Francisco, built less than 20 years ago, be demolished and rebuilt. Tenants want to see a plan for repairs to existing homes.

“Public Housing in Private Hands” is a series that explores poor living conditions in government-run and other subsidized housing, examining the decisions of both public officials and developers. Stories also examine the limits of local and state eviction moratoriums designed to help those in economic need in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ongoing coverage by staff writer Madison Alvarado. The initial series included reporters Nina Sparling and Madison Alvarado, data journalist Frank Bass, infographics intern Jenny Kwon and research assistants Ande Richards and Imran Ali Malik, who are students at UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program.

Support for this series was provided by the Fund for Investigative Journalism. Thanks also to the Investigative Editing Corps, which helped launch this series in 2020.

Housing

A protest in 2014 outside a building where residents had been evicted.

Tenant Attorney Expects ‘Avalanche’ of Evictions as Protections Expire

01.08.2021

By Laura Wenus, Reporter & Host for "Civic"

Months ago, legislators approved several layers of protections to keep renters from being kicked out and potentially made homeless during a pandemic. Now, several of those protections are expiring, though there are efforts under way to extend them and Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he supports an extension.