> Sure, more housing supply will lower housing prices -- and the resulting increase in population will increase the demand for everything else that plays into a

> Sure, more housing supply will lower housing prices -- and the resulting increase in population will increase the demand for everything else that plays into affordability of living in the city. What do the laws of supply and demand say about that? Yep. You're exactly right. Population is increasing, driving demand, raising prices. Problem is, population will continue to increase for the projected future. Since it's unconstitutional to prevent people from moving somewhere, this needs to be accommodated. Building more housing will induce demand. But it will also mitigate against a future where growing demand and fixed supply raise rents even more. The _ONLY_ way to substantively lower rents is to increase supply or decrease demand. Nothing else will solve this. And for what it's worth, rent is about 65% of my monthly budget; lowering rents would substantially increase affordability/cost of living in this area