Housing Shortage Is Progressives' Problem to Fix
If they believe in social justice, they will be fine with construction next door.
Will they line up in support of more housing units?
Photographer: Cindy Ord/Getty Images
Overregulation of housing — from restrictive zoning laws to onerous building codes — is implicated in a great many of America’s problems. A lot of people who have studied the issue, from varying political viewpoints, have reached that same understanding. If the negative effects are getting clearer, though, the path ahead isn’t.
The most obvious ramification of overregulation is that it keeps housing supply too low and prices too high, so that affordable housing is less available. It also reduces geographic and economic mobility if people can’t afford to live where the best jobs are.