By Christian Britschgi | Reason
The idea that cities would be more affordable places to live if more housing construction were allowed to take place is both remarkably simple and remarkably controversial.
When the Los Angeles Times polled voters in late 2018 about the cause of the state’s housing shortage, just 13 percent identified a dearth of new residential construction as a primary factor, behind things like a lack of rent control, or foreign real estate speculators.
In Seattle, moderate, middle-class activists argued against a city council-led effort to allow for taller, denser construction in some neighborhoods on the grounds that it would make the city’s affordability problems worse, not better.
