Welcome back to New Day Northwest.
You know we don't talk with
novelists very much on this show,
but our next guest wrote a book
talking about some real life
topics that caught our attention.
Portland author Willie Vlautin is
the writer of the night always comes,
and we spoke with him about economic
issues like housing affordability that
influenced the plot of this book.
All right? Well, let's talk about
your book. The night always comes.
What is the premise of this novel?
I mean, it's it's about a
working class family in Portland.
They are trying to buy their rental
home that they've had for 30 years.
It's a mother, adult daughter and adult
developmentally disabled brother,
and they're kind of stuck together for
the brother and they have a chance to
buy their rental home because housing
prices have gone through the roof
and it's it's kind of about this.
The the argument of can can these kind
of working class families survive
gentrification in cities like Portland,
Seattle, San Francisco where they
keep getting pushed out?
So glad that you are addressing
this topic because it is something
that we all know is happening,
but we need to talk about it
more and I like that a novel
is telling this story.
What inspired you to
tackle these tough topics.
Couple things I remember
driving maybe five years ago.
Downtown Portland heading ended
into Portland and seeing there
was over 15 cranes downtown,
meaning 15 new buildings going up and then
I notice I have a little office in St.
John's. The north part of
Portland and just for my window.
Within five years I I saw six
apartment buildings go up and all
them and three mom and pop stores
across the street closed up because
they sold out and then the you know,
the all you know as a rider you
get stuck a lot so you walk.
I walk neighborhoods a lot and you
know you fall in love with these
beat up little working class houses,
old Craftsman.
They're built for working class
people and all of a sudden they
go up and less than three years
they'd go up like $150,000.
And so you you start getting
this kind of panic.
I think it is a working
person thinking how do.
How do people buy things that are this
expensive and why are they so expensive?
How do you ever get ahead?
How do you grab some of that wealth?
Because that's the problem is more
and more people are are not being
able to have that American dream.
That wealth is is in attainable.
You mentioned the cranes,
the home prices going up.
I mean it sounds a lot like Seattle.
What else do you think?
Seattle and Portland have in common?
Well, I do think that insane amount of growth
and the disparity of of of rich to poor.
I mean, we both both cities are are
really struggling with homelessness.
So what's interesting is the tent cities
of Portland started rising as the as the
housing prices are going up and and and the
neighborhoods are shifting so much so to me.
It all made me start waking up in
the middle of the night trying to
figure it out and and worry.
And that's so the novel has
that kind of panic and.
And worry to it.
So yeah, I mean,
I think a lot of the cities like
even I grew up in Reno,
Reno is becoming a lot
like that San Francisco,
Seattle, Portland,
San Francisco. Yeah, it feels like
everywhere you look I see it on online
and everyone's making jokes about it.
You hear about pocket sales all the time.
I mean, you just can't get
your hands on a home and and it
is a very nerve making thing.
You have a lot of anxiety,
but is that what you hope people
take away from the book?
Or is it something else?
Well, I was interested in what
you mentioned earlier then the
idea of the American dream like
I was raised to believe that if.
The American Dream was owning a house and
that you were somebody if you own a house,
and I think that's what made America
so great is it was the first time that
really working class people could own
something own houses and so it's a huge
part of our identity and and I think
that has shifted in cities like Portland,
Seattle, San Francisco, where,
where that that dream is just unattainable.
If you work 24/7 it did,
you know from working class people
you there's just not enough hours in
the day you could work to afford a.
A beat up $500,000 house through
and I also think there is a stigma
attached to folks who don't own a home.
I think that's something that you know,
especially here in Seattle.
If you don't own a home,
then you're clearly not successful.
Maybe you shouldn't be
trustworthy so you find that,
well, that's that whole
idea that if you're rich,
are you better than than people that
aren't rich and and and that's the
thing that I think America is always
kind of grappled with that idea of?
Are you a better person?
If you're rich? I mean I do think.
Probably you know least my generation.
You were raised to believe that home
ownership really set you apart and and
really gave you really true things security.
It gave you a place that that that was
yours that you couldn't get pushed out of,
but all the all that's changing and and yeah,
I do think that today that
idea that you're rich,
you're better is something that I
really try to talk about in the book.
And thanks to Willie for
sharing that with us.