As of right construction is probably the best solution, and it was recently proposed by the governor of California, who is a Democrat and is generally perceived

As of right construction is probably the best solution, and it was recently proposed by the governor of California, who is a Democrat and is generally perceived to be very liberal. The problem with the Bay Area is not just zoning -- it's the fact that even when land is zoned for housing, all kinds of local advocacy groups can prevent development by filing frivolous lawsuits and demanding further environmental reviews (even when thorough environmental reviews were already conducted). As of right construction would prevent many of those kinds of lawsuits. Jerry Brown's proposal was probably the kind of compromise you are looking for: as of right construction would apply to developments with a certain percentage of subsidized housing. (The nice thing about subsidies versus rent control is that they are means-tested, so you won't end up with high-income earners taking advantage of rent control and low-income earners paying market rate.) Unfortunately, his proposal did not get anywhere.