My mother lived in section 8 for a few years, although her housing was rural and fairly nice-- not so much in urban areas. Most of the things you listed I am ag

My mother lived in section 8 for a few years, although her housing was rural and fairly nice-- not so much in urban areas. Most of the things you listed I am against, I am against means testing and strict requirements for tenants. If someone wants to shoot up heroin in their section 8 I'd prefer them doing it there than out in the street. It has also been shown multiple times that housing the homeless actually saves taxpayers money: https://borgenproject.org/housing-homeless-saves-taxpayers-money/ https://borgenproject.org/housing-homeless-saves-taxpayers-m... To answer the specific questions about Vienna, I believe the public housing started in the 1910s and 1920s under the socialist government, and today over 60% of Viennese residents live in the public housing. Public housing does not have the same issues as rent control. Rent control does not work long-term as it disincentivizes construction and competition. Establishing a price floor through public housing still leaves landlords open to large profit margins in higher-class housing, or higher-density housing, and encourages development. https://www.marketplace.org/2021/05/03/in-vienna-public-housing-is-affordable-and-desirable/ https://www.marketplace.org/2021/05/03/in-vienna-public-hous... Our bloated bureaucracy is a symptom of American social programs needing to be means-tested because we are culturally opposed to welfare programs. We have to have a purity test for everyone receiving a handout-- meanwhile there is no means testing for subsidies and bailouts for corporations who are at risk of default every time we turn the money faucet off. It's an incredible double-standard where we scrutinize the most vulnerable in society while creating a massive moral hazard for our largest companies.