I don't think you need to be a philosopher to realize the trade-offs. The issue is that if every community does this (as they pretty much have) then anyone who

I don't think you need to be a philosopher to realize the trade-offs. The issue is that if every community does this (as they pretty much have) then anyone whose family didn't have property 50 years ago will be stuck with bad housing and anyone whose family had housing 50 years ago will be able to fund their housing. Its a coordination problem. Clearly a small town may be sacrificing something by decreasing their own values with building - but if every town in the same country individually makes the optimal choice for themselves then the result for the country overall is not great for anyone.