Eric Hirsch is a professor of sociology at Providence College. His work includes research and advocacy on homelessness and housing. He earned his doctorate at the University of Chicago. His book Urban Revolt examines ethnic politics in the nineteenth-century Chicago labor movement.
Eric Hirsch argues for Providence's rent cap. The council's January 21 release presented Hirsch's argument that predictable rent increases would help tenants keep their homes.
Providence's proposed ordinance would cap standard annual rent increases at 4% for covered housing. Read the text, Smiley's veto rationale and Morales's support. The proposal did not become law.
