Opinion: It's Time to Destigmatize ‘Public Housing’

Upzoning efforts, while hugely controversial, often make only a small impact on housing supply, particularly in the short term. Could a return to government-built housing be the solution?

2 minute read

May 25, 2023, 8:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Brick high-rise apartment buildings in New York City

Contrary to the image embedded in the popular imagination, public housing doesn't have to mean isolated, high-rise towers and income-segregated communities. | SeanPavonePhoto / New York City apartment buildings

Around the country, cities are struggling to stop a growing housing crisis through developer incentives and rezoning efforts that encourage more housing production. But Daniel Denvir and Yonah Freemark write that “the typical effects of upzoning are rather modest, especially in the short term.” Writing in Slate, Denvir and Freemark argue that perhaps policymakers should look to “an obvious but long-taboo solution: building new public housing.”

The concept of public housing gained a notorious reputation reputation in many U.S. cities thanks to misguided (or outright discriminatory) policies and underresourced projects that failed to meet the needs of their residents. But this is starting to change, according to the authors.

Generally thought of as only for the very poor, government-funded and publicly owned housing—sometimes called social housing—would guarantee affordable housing for people across income ranges by adding to the national housing supply and offering new opportunities for vibrant, mixed-income neighborhoods.

The authors point to proposals that create a new model for public housing that differs from past models in key ways. “First, it would largely be funded at the state and local level. Second, the housing is intended not just for the very poor, but rather for a wide swath of residents, which could compliment public subsidy to finance more construction.”

One U.S. example exists in Montgomery County, Maryland, where “the Housing Opportunities Commission quietly initiated a program to build mixed-income public housing that uses a cross-subsidy financing system: the market rents paid by more affluent tenants to subsidize affordable units in the same building.” And subsidizing public housing is one of the best uses of government funds, the authors claim. “By generating jobs in construction, public housing development acts as a countercyclical stimulus measure, boosting employment in a critical sector with significant multiplier effects across the entire economy.”

Monday, May 22, 2023 in Slate

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

5 hours ago - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

7 hours ago - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine