Homeowners Dominate Local Political Leadership. That’s Bad for Renters.
The tenant-mayor is a rare species in US cities, a new study says. Even in places where most residents are renters, elected leaders overwhelmingly own their homes.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, elected in 2020, is also a renter — a rarity among US government officials.
Photographer: Christine Condon/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Within an hour of Burhan Azeem moving into a new apartment this March, an NBC News crew showed up to take a tour. A month later, his selfie in front of his new front door was featured in Boston magazine.
The place wasn’t so special — Azeem had a 75-square-foot room in a four-bedroom unit he shared with three other roommates in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For a 25-year-old paying $1,000 a month to live in one of the most expensive cities in the country, the circumstances weren’t so special, either.