Is Affordable Housing Policy The Solution, Or The Problem?

"When you start looking at the array of federal, state and local programs intended to expand the pool of "affordable" housing, you come to a few unsettling conclusions."

Housing costs more today in part because we expect more -- larger square footage, more bathrooms, air conditioning and a like. Higher density increases affordability, but most communities rather limit density and reign in growth, offering huge subsidies to a lucky few. And in many ways, the affordable housing problem is really an income problem.

"Ultimately, government policy is going to have to reconcile the contradictory impulses in its policies. You can't have subsidized, rapid economic growth, adequate infrastructure, effective land use, lower tax levels and little growth in housing costs. Something will have to give. Until then, the only thing legislators can do is ignore the problem or throw more money at it. And employers might learn to fend for themselves."