The Disconnect Between Liberal Aspirations and Liberal Housing Policy is Killing U.S. Coastal Cities
Eugene is, in general, known as a liberal city. And yet, like many other liberal cities, we are starting to see increasing housing prices that threaten affordability, and the discussions about how to address this become increasingly frustrating. This article discusses how liberal ideals such as environmentalism, positive feelings on immigration, and equity fall apart when discussing housing in our cities.
“The outcomes of our housing policies fly in the face of our ideology. For those in need, we support providing supplementary income, health insurance, educational support, and other social welfare programs—and then we erase their value by making our cities too expensive for those most in need of these benefits. Either low income residents can’t afford to live in the city at all, or the cost of housing is so high that the value of the benefits is exceeded by the added cost of rent.”