please lift your book so the cameras can get them. if you have your book come on over they will sign it for you to spend a few moments. >> that was great. . >> that was great. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] . >> the encore presentation now continues from earlier today. [inaudible conversations]

. >> good afternoon we will get started. thank you for coming out that is timely for us here in daustin and then the stress the city is under and in the wake of the bay area. and with their books from the they and activists from

berkeley and then cofounded in 1980. uptown tenderloin ink and the editor has written five previous bookshe on activism the activist handbook and beyond the fields with chavez. as a lawyer and human rights advocate his work is taking him around the world to give

voice to those persisting in turbulent times. to be a journalist in the congo through transformation programs and in zimbabwe on the advocacy campaigns in syria and award-winning film and then and with the journalist and artist of the first amendment. and then frequently invited speaker with media and technology and democracy holding abr ba from harvard

and from stanford. randy will talk aboutea his new book first. and then we will have q&a from the audience. these events are st hopefully you will like what you hear. my book generation price out. has the genesis do people here remember that. maybe hands and not many people do. we are san francisco's leading provider of housing. we house over 2000 people so my day job is with a very poor but after the go ship fire occurred in a warehouse in oakland that because of

housing crisis you have all of these artists living in facility. and they used to get parties. on the night of december 2, 2016. a fire 36 young people it said to me san francisco used to be the in spencer city. but now even oakland had priced out the working and middle class. and as i started to get into this i started realizing there is something wrong with a lot of art progressive cities where almost all of them had policies that price out the working and middle class. so the cities all talk about inclusion and diversity but their land-use policies

promote exclusion and elitism. that led me to start looking at other cities. we all know the bay area in new york city are very expensive austin, ten years ago and no one would have imagined that i would be talking about this in the context of the middle class being priced out. but like seattle and other cities since 2012 and well had to tell you this. the economics of housing have radically changed. what i'm here today to tell you. austin is really at a crossroads. you can follow the leader that san francisco did when the first .com boom happened in the '90s and have all of these high-tech workers.

and you can build a lot more housing. you don't have the oracle employees the working and middle class. of how what is exactly happen. i go over 12 cities the story is often the same. i'm i am a boomer myself. i have to confess. the boomer home owners that bought when things are cheap. they are by pricing out millenials. also making climate change worse. we don't want any apartment belts in our neighborhood. build them in the suburbs. those folks drive in creating greenhouse gas emissions.

being an environmentalist is more than driving a previous and recycling. that's why talk about in my book. and just to give you a flavor because our theme is about tech. have they seen the oracle facility and wake friend. you know what used to be there were 244 lower income family housing units. we always say in austin. we want to keep diversity. it was a great thing it had barbecues. evicted all of them. build a building new luxury apartments. that is announced oracle is coming. the ceo was here for four hours in the time he bought 43 acres.

so now there is an oracle plant where they used to be torn 44 family units. and where did they go. you have to provide the housing for that population. we will go on to further discussion thank you. [applause]. thank you for a lovely crowd here. it is documenting the rapid ten years of change that we've experienced. the city has been something of a divided city. a huge amount of investment capital came into san francisco. in creating a rash of evictions.

all kinds of thriving things. they were new to the city. an icon of social justice justice. in create this monoliths in the non- tech communities. i interviewed over a hundred 50 people. for eight hours each. and assembled what i think are the most impactful are here for you so that you can see a community have a conversation with itself that isn't pretty easy to have. we all live in our own corners of our own communities. is often very challenging for us.

let alone across the city from us. the book is an opportunity for us to crack that open. i think it's a useful metaphor for what's happening in the rest of the u.s. we have seen in have seen in new york these changes occur the liking public institutions. and over seed the private sector is an american challenge to deal with. i think san francisco lets us look at a compressed time where the change is really radical and you can see everyone in the book. and a collective and intentional way of managing the change is inevitable i would like to read a section of the book for you. this is my introduction. he sits by the window. he looks down the street at the old strip club now flanked by shops and restaurants.

born and raised in the democratic republic of congo moved here to find a better life. he dreamed that he will be one of the young and lucky. inside sunglasses and athletic wear. i didn't speak english at all. the first time i went to starbucks. i have my dictionary with me. hopefully i could pay and leave. she said do you need room for cream. but when i used to go to the burger place and they said the way you like it.

that is how survival instincts work. i came here in 2008. the economy was very bad. i sold sunglasses nothing is easy. every morning in africa the sun comes up and align has to run faster than the slowest gazelle. otherwise they will starve to death. it doesn't matter if you are a lion or gazelle when the sun comes up you better start running. a friend of mine told me about uber. i knew the city from time to time i used to work a limo service for extra money. i was one of the earliest uber at the time. it's town cars what made uber what it is now. we knew know how to build business long terms.

it exploded everybody knew it. i'm get a google it. i'm going to uber home. i got my own car and my own licenses. two cars three drivers. we used to be 10,000 people eating from that. from the same piece of cake. how do you like uber? like someone steps into your office. it is beautiful it is amazing it should be the answer. the first question is where you from. i'm from here. the lady said even ask and she said because i drink a lot of

coffee. i told someone i was out of milk that's why moved here. people nowadays see uber. they think that they can use you. and they can do whatever they want with you. it's not sherry cars the cheering people. the self driving cars are there. who is getting insurance when no one is driving. soon all of the people that are so lazy that they need a car to pick them up all of these people are gonna find themselves without jobs too. that's how goes now. now they don't fit in people's image of the city. what about giving some time about why they are there. some people have issues some people were better than us but they didn't have the luck.

there is a very thin line. sometimes the matter of a fraction of a second. i could tell from his accent that he is from india or pakistan. it's part of the story. he said where are you from. i'm from here. he feels i fit here i'm part of our society. are you busy tonight. what is making good money for you. what do you do for a living. how much money do you make. he's anemic like $200,000. maybe that's it what you think is good enough.

some people here are making $10 billion why should i be making that. what separates me and you from him. he said can you please just drop me off over here. we get that more and more now. i've seen the story already. we are not first in the world anymore. do i need to give my kids the same education i left behind in the congo. anyone who he's doing uber x full-time go to somewhere that

will care for you. these are the differences between animals and human beings. i came here to find them. it's not country it's a corporation. within that platform you have the opportunity of succeeding or failing. in both cases you are responsible see better start running. and i'm still running. i'm going to come back to you in a couple of minutes. would you speak it to a few things. your book has a great chapter on austin. so where things are not measuring up. could you speak a little bit for some pros and cons of what you feel like we are doing on

that front. i think the thing about austin's you want to keep it weird. everyone wants to keep austin weird. and we like that image. but there is things going on that are the dark side of austin that really doesn't get enough attention because were so busy trying to keep it looking weird. it was weird that someone could go in and that they could demolish 1600 units. and almost the entire city government saying austin needs to do a better job about segregation. they need to do better about inclusion. the actual policies are not matching that. if you really think that. there are some places where sanford's. stanford is. they don't pretend to care about inclusion. they want to be a white elite

community and they're doing a great job at it. they have a different mentality. they say they want to diversity. but then you have to do the policies to create it. if you don't add to your housing supply. there can ago where working in and middle-class people used to live. where do did the working and middle class go. the diversity that you want to keep. deaf to go further out in long commutes which are very unproductive. and it's also not creating the austin community. a more liberal neighborhood for all people. that's why people say it's housing for all. as a hose to becoming an elitist enclave. is it can be we are just can

worry about the people that had the money. or is it can be were really care about that. the people say they want to be like palo alto. i think austin needs to be true to how you think of it. and that requires a pretty challenging cycle. in a word that is very controversial. he really did a great job of seeing what horrible name. the tools that they head on the books today.

and how we aren't even putting the resources of the mind your city manager doesn't seem to prioritize that. if the laws are on the books. you guys know the drill. they are allowed to live in conditions in austin that would never be tolerated in san francisco. with the same housing code as you do. it's not a priority. that is one very easy way. it's one very easy way to make them feel like they can live in austin. the only place that they can afford is the really bad conditions that doesn't really work for kids families growing up with all of these terrible things i talk about in my book. you can take it. they are just trying to get for plexus belts.

there is nothing really evil about a four plex. it increases supply and affordability and there needs to be more flexibility. you've a lot of land in austin. there seems to be this feeling like a dog and a workout. it has always worked out for austin. most of your lives it has worked out. i'm trying to tell you as you probably know it's now a different world since 2012. i think they have changed the housing market and it's not going back to the days of being a slacker. i think the reality check that my book tries to give. we want active engagement in that sense. carrie, speaking of slackers.

you've a very diverse set of folks that you interviewed to tattoo parlors. and owners. to a rapper and or -- how did you find yourself subjects. i has been a filmmaker for a long time. you just pound the pavement and you reach out for people. there is serendipity involved though. there is a chapter in the book where there is a cab driver. i met him because i was in his cabin he was a good talker. he was the one that had written the law. the have transformed san francisco's cap fleets to the hybrid. he is now somebody who lives

in dolores park. watching it basically undo the work that he did. now you had 10,000 more cars arriving in san francisco. all of which had increased admissions. there is the way in which it was once a place tremendous innovation in the public sector is now is finding it very hard to keep up with all of the innovation. the degree to which the topic is today. these are universal problems. they were entering regulated spaces. and transfer forming the contract around. we are very much in the same page on the respect of housing. the whole fleet of other

problems from home to home it affects health care in how people arrive at school. and whether kids have teachers in their own schools. there is a story in san francisco one school that lost 13 teachers in one year. there are the ways in which all of them are interconnected. we are all deeply related to each other as much as our lives may feel silent and unique in our own experience. we are radiating and flashing back. i think it helps to be able to see that. i talk about the whole theme of my book. they can't afford to live in the cities they work in which is just crazy but to show you how some people are just against any housing in san jose they are building in miami.

they can stay after school without having an hour and a half commute. everything everyone thinks teacher housing. 4500 people signed up is titian saying they were undesirable tenants. silicon valley. that is a exclusion that you don't want austin to be. but they need housing and they can't afford to be living in any of the cities i write about. tech is the great disruptor is there a tech solution in any of this. what are you seeing each of you in the bay where you seen the engagement in the tech community on these challenges. i think it's important that there are ten to 15 people

deeper in the industry. and many people consider themselves they have to take themselves. with their own challenges in their life. civic action and all the kind of things that are really necessary. it's very challenging for them. equally there are major leaders and people that think that they are trying to lead and spearhead that. i think the challenge often with philanthropy and volunteers. they can happen at the margin of life. a rising tide.

the challenge i think that the book is reflecting is that those are working in the current economy right now. not enough to turn things around. it's there. onto this. we have a moment right now where there is a tenant of wealth coming from cities like austin and san francisco and la. that wealth has been captured at 1% currently and not traveling down to public offers. what does that mean when we hit the next cycle and that

wealth is not there anymore. what does it mean when that opportunity drives up to really create a pool of resources that we can create properly together in a way of life. there is a national project in washington right now that is out right cruel. in contrast to that or have been are having a very difficult time in our cities arguing for a way of life is not as cruel or structurally just as cool. we do need to find at this moment in the next several years to really turn that around and figure out ways of coming out with ways. i hope that's the beginning of a conversation around capitalizing on that opportunity. to be of any tech workers. the standard book in the

analysis that you find in san francisco is to blame tech workers and the young people paying the rents for the sky rocketing that was when i argue in my book. the people fighting to get more housing in san francisco our tech workers because they come out their job only a hundred thousand dollars in student debt. in their pain $3,500 a month for one bedroom in san francisco. typically with three to four roommates. everyone thinks i'm making all this money. i'll have i don't have anything. i have no future in the city unless we build more housing and had more affordability here. really the tech workers are part of the solution and tech companies don't build housing.

they allowed all of these jobs to be created both in the '90s and since the city council will require apple to build housing. they add 10,000 jobs in where are those people to live. their neck and lived in daly city small town next door. so tech workers are moving and becoming part of the solution in san francisco and should have claimed as they often are. documentaries are so blame tech workers. instead of blaming city policies that don't build housing and pits tech workers against everybody else. we could do a lot more in every city upper income tenants are blamed. the one that her pain sky rocketing rents. they are paying these huge rents that you read about and they are mad as hell. i am with the tech workers.

we elected in june the woman who called herself the public housing network. yes in my backyard. people are starting to realize that if we don't build housing it just hits all the tenants against each other and everybody loses. that is the first place i ever saw that was in san francisco and it must been in connection with her campaign and it really runs contrary to something that i will put in the room that is fundamental to the organization of government in the city which is neighborhood associations. it's something i something i know you speak to in your work and trying to reconcile yes in my backyard with the neighborhood association. all of these books come out. and they never associated

neighborhoods. it's always evil developers. that eliminates any personal responsibility as a developer who is evil. the reality is the greatest investment as homes go up. we have property tax issues. we prop 13. owners are doing great. and they make money by restricting supply. and i think austin in los angeles i write about this in every city. they have the two most powerful neighborhood groups in the united states. if the neighborhood group doesn't want to happen it won't happen. but that also means people who have an economic interest are allowed policymaking has to

change. and i think you see in seattle with these funded neighborhood groups. they tend to be older and white and wealthy. and people in color aren't in the neighborhood groups quite frequently. the policy being made by a small number of homeowners and in la there wealthy homeowners. mom and apple pie. the sunset and upscale all of these places up in the palisades they are trying to stop the whole city of la because they don't want tenants living in their neighborhood. that's wrong. [applause]. i will put one more question to randy and carrie. be thinking about questions

and i'm sure you can get to either of the microphones that i see in the back. in both books is it's not game over in the bay area there is a sense of optimism the people in your book all all activated and they want to do something and they're very different ideas on what to do. randy, you didn't just say game over you actually have a blueprint in your book of here are the strategies that can help us. so speak for a minute if you would about your optimism on the issues but are we running out of time. i spoke to you a little bit about it in the last question. i think everybody interviewed in that book. whether it's a investor.

a google bus protester. they all see problem together that they identify nearly commonly. and they have oriented themselves towards solving it. there's not one person who is not doing what they thought they would do. their town their neighborhood their family et cetera. i'm super optimistic that we have the right energy and we have reasonably brilliant people in cities trying to think towards the solutions. i also think we had times drill down into solutions that are the beginning of the problem but forget that with housing needs to come infrastructure development.

and when you start talking at a scale of really arguing for a way of life or we can be together and see each other as equals. that is so much in austin and the bay area in the new york tradition. our cities have been a part of that tradition for a long time. if we can provide that again i think we have a path forward. my view of the city's is the working and middle class the cities. who runs the pta who runs the soccer club. you have failed cities. all of the cities i mentioned. they're losing the middle and working class. i believe the imperative in the public support all come down to the support.

to expose the real undercurrent of why they don't build housing and stop housing. and make them power in the neighborhood association. we have to dress that. that is beyond. i report regularly on issues around all of the cities that i write about. i'm very personally connected to all of the cities that we are trying to get for plexus plex's in minneapolis and more housing and of the various cities. you guys can make a difference here in austin. is austin going to be an elitist or exclusionary. it is a question of political well. we are can have questions from the audience. if you can just be sure to speak directly into the microphone i was born in san

francisco. i want to defend austin a little bit. the problem in the bay area that you identify is absolutely correct. the million-dollar shack is not good for anybody in the bay area. it's not worth keeping. but austin they are building things like the development all kinds of income levels and also things like foundation communities which i presume you know about. the most brilliant concept i ever heard of. they allow people in. it is basically the working poor.

and it is the most brilliant concept i've ever heard of. my question is do you know about it and would you support it. would you support maybe not to the bay area. one of the things san francisco has against it. it cannot build out. in so far as connecting the transit system. that they could continue to be in communities. it requires -- affordable housing. i think you talk about it and you have a whole section in your book. and how many different

governments are there. from water rights to housing sharing. they all had to be coordinated. i as a giant mess. from it comes to doing anything significant. we mention affordable housing. and obviously you have the bulk of tenants in this country cannot afford market risk. and we have to have a federal government to go back to the historic role only one quarter of the eligible households i'm talking about people in my book who primarily can do it and earn too much for government subsidies. i think affordable housing is

an incredibly important thing in san francisco. and were doing a lot of that. thank you for shouting out prop a. my question specifically to you randy since you are done with tenant unit unions. it's basically we have no renter protections. people can get thrown out for even discussing the union. my question is how do they organize in order to protect each other. when they are in fact zero. it has preempted so many of the tools.

and whenever anyone comes up with a good idea the state legislature quickly goes up and preempts it again. i feel sorry for austin that your state government is in austin. all they do is interfere with what you guys are trying to do. i'm aware of that. i get it. the one thing i don't think that they could do is if you do that density bonus model they accept affordability. and that they can have tenant productions. that seems to me the one thing you're legislature can't interfere with i'm glad you brought that up. i should have mentioned that. it. austin is really hampered by a state government and trying to protect the low income population and i'm just cannot rip one more time on and something we talked about. we had tools on our books today to improve the working class. but are we going to use them. i am a long-term austenite. in the question i have is

completely irrelevant for austin. and that is right control. i very clearly see if you are low to moderate income person. do you really need it. actually you need it to be able to stay there. your people just because they had been there so long. i cannot wrap my have around it. i'm just wondering what you think. what you think about that policy wise. part of the issue is that san francisco rent control stock is there. it's from decades ago. so increasing rent control and housing stock what would

actually decrease the scarcity. i do think nonetheless though, my experience is where it is a more successful policy. it actually helps balance things out. there's also too little enforcement abound here. begging for enforcement and regulation. i would just say that no point i don't see the state government as ever-changing. it's can be a long time. after you think about rent control. it's just not happening for the foreseeable future. and then also to building housing. you spoke a little bit about that. what are some of the ways that corporations can play a role in building housing.

that is a great question. as i said. how come apple, facebook and all of the companies you know our able to add thousands of jobs and silicon valley without building any housing. the is crazy. oracle, when they took over the housing here. they did not had to build anything. austin did not ask them to contribute. that's unfortunate. but what usually happens with the corporation. it's up to the city to require it. and the cities don't want housing. they don't care how much rats go up in san francisco that's why again, and the whole thing with my book city policies make a difference in cities require a job connection him as unfortunately is not coming to austin.

i was really worried about them coming to austin. so amazon comes. they don't build housing. read in my book what they did to the seattle housing market. they were advertising 10,000 jobs per month. where those people can live. it just went up like the stratosphere. that woman's question is a great one. my decree which was here in urban sociology. i want to bring the point you're talking about. with the new housing. in the revamped housing. with memphis tennessee. they built all the housing in

west nashville. they go together by ford and you eight w. they can afford the housing. the same thing happen in culver city california. what can we do to stop people like oracle from coming in and asserting us we no longer had ethnic neighborhoods here. one of the things i just think we are not holding the feet to the fire on as a diversity of hiring. and community integration. i just think were asking a series of questions that get directed at housing and don't ask for a suite of other things for them to do. there is absolutely an obligation to hire from the committee. in an obligation to build in a way that has existed from

them. there are people that are expert in this and know how to do it. it's worth thinking hard about how to hold that. they are very different and also it gets back to what i say in my book and i want to push this again my argument. city officials have to push the companies in the people have to push the city officials. that's how it works. we are going to conclude there. will be signing books.