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Do you want more people to able to afford to live here? Then we need more housing.
Who builds housing? Developers.
Therefore, developers are our friends and we should make their lives easier.
If you don't like the conclusion, then your avenues of attack are "someone besides developers builds housing" or "we don't actually want more housing."
Often people say developers just build high-rent housing. But if businesses are limited in how much they can do, naturally they'll go for the highest *profit* activity first, which apparently means high-rent housing. But it's not like developers are averse to building cheaper housing: the US is littered with cookie-cutter subdivisions whose properties may include many soul-sucking aesthetic flaws but also cheapness. Unfettered businesses will in general explore all the avenues of profit to them, not just the high ones.
But building in desirable cities is usually massively fettered, and not to the benefit of anyone at the low end. Parking requirements, minimum apartment size, height limits, setback requirements...
Who builds housing? Developers.
Therefore, developers are our friends and we should make their lives easier.
If you don't like the conclusion, then your avenues of attack are "someone besides developers builds housing" or "we don't actually want more housing."
Often people say developers just build high-rent housing. But if businesses are limited in how much they can do, naturally they'll go for the highest *profit* activity first, which apparently means high-rent housing. But it's not like developers are averse to building cheaper housing: the US is littered with cookie-cutter subdivisions whose properties may include many soul-sucking aesthetic flaws but also cheapness. Unfettered businesses will in general explore all the avenues of profit to them, not just the high ones.
But building in desirable cities is usually massively fettered, and not to the benefit of anyone at the low end. Parking requirements, minimum apartment size, height limits, setback requirements...