Another way of putting this is: there's lots of cheap housing where there's only cheap jobs to match. It's a pick your poison situation, and it doesn't have to

Another way of putting this is: there's lots of cheap housing where there's only cheap jobs to match. It's a pick your poison situation, and it doesn't have to be. Singapore and Vienna are good examples of public housing programs, Tokyo is a good example of the market providing reasonable rent relative to how desirable/big/rich the area is.