The problem is that developers won’t build affordable housing unless they’re heavily incentivized to do so (why take a big risk to build something if you won’t

The problem is that developers won’t build affordable housing unless they’re heavily incentivized to do so (why take a big risk to build something if you won’t profit from it, developers usually aren’t charities) but in practice lots of development get blocked for not having enough affordable units while simultaneously not being nearly subsidized enough to incentivize it. In fact SF’s permitting process is so arcane and silly that just thinking about developing anything will cost you millions in legal fees, let alone the insanely high price of the land, so the payoff better be good. In practice people crying for 100% affordable housing are in reality demanding that nothing gets built at all.