In “Homes for Living,” urban planner Jonathan Tarleton explores New York City's housing crisis by focusing on the residents of two Mitchell-Lama co-ops—buildings created to balance government housing priorities with private development.

The Mitchell-Lama program began in the 1950s, but debates continue over whether “social housing” should take priority over private ownership.

In an interview on “Mornings On 1” Friday, Tarleton highlighted the importance of centering people in the housing conversation.

“I think this is something that often gets lost in affordable housing debates," he said. "We talk about units, we talk about affordability levels, we talk about very high rents, and people often get lost. And so actually digging into the stories of the people who live in these places, I think, is essential.”

Tarleton said the idea for the book came to him while working as a journalist and he was contacted by residents of the Mitchell-Lama buildings in Lower Manhattan.

“A resident of Southbridge Towers reached out to me and said, ‘I'm concerned about the direction of this co-op.’ These debates around privatization within St. James Towers and Southbridge Towers—really the core of the book—I ended up following for a decade and approaching them as an urban planner, that’s my background, as a researcher and as an oral historian, kind of digging into the deep, rich stories there,” he said.