And then they try to cure the problem they've caused with "affordable housing"

Reader comment on: Zoning and Growth

Submitted by Andrew Terhune (United States), Jul 11, 2017 18:14

It is interesting that many of these same cities attempt to cure the problem of the high cost of housing caused by restrictive zoning by mandating that developers set aside a certain fraction of new housing as "affordable" housing available only to those families whose income is less than some percentage of the city's median income. This has the effect of making housing in the areas most in demand available only to the wealthy - since it reduces the supply of market rate housing - and to the poor. Those in the middle are out of luck since they neither qualify for subsidized housing nor can afford the market rate housing in the desirable areas. Since the price of affordable housing is always - by definition - less than the market rate, the demand for it cannot ever be satisfied.


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Other reader comments on this item

Title By Date
People don't behave that way [78 words]StanJul 12, 2017 05:33
⇒ And then they try to cure the problem they've caused with "affordable housing" [140 words]Andrew TerhuneJul 11, 2017 18:14
Other than densification: [188 words]LyleJul 11, 2017 17:40

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