Cities are spaces of great opportunities and marginality. People living in marginalized areas of the city face great hardships and few opportunities for a better life. This essay should examine how the rental housing market affects the lives of people in low income areas of cities.

1. Drawing on the book Evicted, how do landlords develop strategies to maximize their profits and minimize their risks?
2. What are the political and economic conditions that enable landlords to make money in high poverty areas?
3. How do the forces facing tenants exacerbate the conditions of urban poverty described by other authors in the second part of the class?
4. According to the author, what options (from political to social) are available for poor tenants to improve their lives and fight back against exploitative landlords?

Directions: Students are required to answer the questions below. Answers should be one to two pages long (double space, 12-point font, 1 inch margins). We are assessing your knowledge of course materials (lectures and readings). Most citation formats (MLA, APA, ….) are acceptable as long as they are used consistently. Submit in Word or PDF format only. Do not submit in Pages format. Answers must be written in a standard essay format consisting of a short introduction, supporting paragraphs, and a short conclusion. The essay must address the four parts of the general prompt.

Books name are:

• Matthew, Desmond (2016) Evicted: Poverty and Profit the American City. New York: Crown
• MacLeod, Dewar (2010) Kids of the Black Hole: Punk Rock Postsuburban California.

Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press