But he confirmed that rent increases and displacement are part of the company’s strategy. “When we take over a property, the first analysis we do is: How much is the rent going to go up, and how many can afford to stay?”

And also don't miss @rooseveltinstitute.org's recent report on how to rebuild government to make sure that it works for working people.
rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

Totally inspired by people like Keyontay in local government all over this country making sure people not faceless and extractive investors shape and benefit from the growth of their communities. 5/5

The city is fighting back with its biggest nuisance lawsuit ever. And it’s exploring positive partnerships with private investment to shape future development in ways that city residents want. 4/

And they’re selling tokenized shares of Detroit property as crypto to overseas investors, promising huge returns. Keyontay’s grandma bought a house 80 years ago: wealth and stability for generations. RealToken is scooping up that future wealth for itself and faraway investors. 3/

Keyontay is an OG Roosevelt student network founder. She also works for the City of Detroit, and she told me how private equity firm RealToken is buying up homes, refusing to fix them, and serving eviction notices. 2/

Thanks to some amazing student leaders for an honest conversation and a hopeful experience. 9/9

They’ve got great advice for intergenerational dialogue: Be authentic & extend grace. For older generations, practice gentle wisdom & be open to new ideas. For younger generations, have some patience & understanding, even when your elders aren’t always using the words you would. 8/

And I heard young people say they feel as though the divide in our country isn’t about left versus right. It’s about top versus bottom. That’s a bad place that we’ve gotten ourselves to but also one with a lot of possibilities for building alliances and power for people. 7/

I heard not just about how life is unaffordable. I heard young people who want to get back to a sense of belonging to something, a sense of community. I heard young people worried about polarization and asking for advice on how to have conversations across difference. 6/

I heard not just about how life is unaffordable. I heard young people who want to get back to a sense of belonging to something, a sense of community. I heard young people worried about polarization and asking for advice on how to have conversations across difference. 5/

And yet these are student leaders who came out late at night to talk about what kind of life they do want to lead and how we can come together to build it. They still have hope. So if we’re going to build a better future for them, with them, we should listen first. 4/

One student pointed out that many of them are young enough that they’ve never known normal. Through COVID, inflation, the capitulation of institutions and destruction of the federal government, there’s never been a clear path to a life of stability for them. 3/

“Look I know that I’m not going to be able to afford a house when I grow up,” one student said. As if it were obvious. When I was born the average age of a US homebuyer was 31. When I graduated college it was 40. Last year: 56. What happened? 50 years of policy for the wealthy.

Our friends at @groundwork.bsky.social wrote about this with us: How we can take not just affordability but quality of life back from those who would take it from us. 3/3 rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/breathi...

This is squeezing budgets, yes. But this is SO MUCH MORE than affordability. This is our social fabric. It's extracting profits and serving the rich at the expense of providing the things that make our lives the kinds we want to lead. 2/ www.npr.org/2025/10/23/n...

And look who I found! 17 years ago Derek Dobies was an intern I stuck in a closet in Detroit to do work for the '08 Obama campaign. Now he's CoS for the MI AFL-CIO. We're a powerful network of changemakers!