Is Affordable Housing Becoming an Oxymoron? - New York Times

Not really. If the person that Prof. Varian says skimps and saves to live on the one acre lot is properly rewarded, say by a condo developer paying him 5 times as much as he paid, is that a bad thing? The land owner gets lots of $$, the developer gets to make a profit off his building, and the "searcher" gets a place to live. Certainly more people win (more intensely) in that scenario versus restrictive R-1 zoning where only the owner wins and everyone else loses (no housing for the searcher, no profit to be made by developers, etc.) The best case scenario is to limit zoning laws and encourage a variety of housing options, and then, most importantly, reassess the zoning on a continual basis. Government should not be so intrusive on the market and force limit folks housing option like it has in the past.