> Imagine they pointed to 1960s Lisbon or late 1950s Soviet Russia and insisted the government implement a sensible housing policy. It would be a bloodbath for

> Imagine they pointed to 1960s Lisbon or late 1950s Soviet Russia and insisted the government implement a sensible housing policy. It would be a bloodbath for investors and consequently cannot be allowed to happen. Those buildings would be illegal in most of the US. If similar quality and floor space per inhabitant was legal to build you could indeed solve housing problems in short order. No need to have the state do it. If flophouses/SROs were legal developers would build them.