The evitability of high housing prices

Housing deniers, people who literally fight to deny housing to others, as well as denying the realities of supply and demand, and of housing shortages, often claim that developers would never build enough to lower rents or housing prices. Let's prove that such claims are wrong.

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walkable density threshold, revised assumptions

Over the years I've done various density and walkability calculations, estimating that the required density could go as low as 4000 people/km2 (8000 people in a 12 minute walk) or even 3000 people/km2 (9000 people in a 15 minute walk.) But in the literature, messy as it is, it seems more like 10 du (dwelling units)/acre is the expected minimum, which at 2.6 people/du is more like 6500 people/km2. So I want to poke at my assumptions.

Summary: yeah, my old assumptions were flawed, and I'm now looking at closer to 10,000 people/km2 for good walkable density. Data indicates you start getting more walking before that, like 5000/km2, but it levels off above 10,000, possibly because all the trips it is easy to make walkable, have been made walkble. And per older posts, you can reach these densities with single-family housing if you insist, though you'll need to accept small lots and yards.

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There are other benefits to higher density, of course: more taxpayers to pay for infrastructure, more riders to justify high transit frequency, letting more people live close to attractive points like subway stations, letting people have more and more interesting lives in walking or biking distance. But in terms of reducing car trips in favor of walking, the low-hanging fruit gets plucked by 10,000.