Reddit reviews Zoning Rules!: The Economics of Land Use Regulation

I answered that question in "Do millennials have a future in Seattle? Do millennials have a future in any superstar cities?" Matt Yglesias answers it in The Rent Is too Damn High (And What to Do About It).

The short answer is "We need to build more housing."

The problem is that most existing owners don't want more housing because they view their housing as an investment, rather than a piece of decaying capital. William explains this in chapters 7 – 8 of Zoning Rules!: The Economics of Land Use Regulation.

Oh, hey, I know something about that:

• The Immutable Laws of Affordable Housing: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/5/8/immutable-laws-of-affordable-housing
  
• Rent control is like burning the furniture to keep the house warm. Here's liberal economist Paul Krugman on why it's a bad idea: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/07/opinion/reckonings-a-rent-affair.html - if you keep people from being able to raise the rent, they'll end up selling those places to people looking to buy, taking units off the rental market. They'll spend less on maintenance. It might be nice for some people, short term. Long term, it'll make things worse.
  
• It's a supply problem. That doesn't just mean out, which is expensive ( https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/1/7/americas-suburban-experiment ) , it means up and in, too.
  
• It's a supply problem in California and in Portland, Seattle, Austin, Denver... all over. They need to fix it there, too.
  
  You're interested? Want to learn more? Here you go:
  
  
• https://www.curbed.com/2017/1/25/14342828/denver-rents-affordable-housing-apartments
  
• https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/business/how-anti-growth-sentiment-reflected-in-zoning-laws-thwarts-equality.html?_r=0
  
• http://www.strongtowns.org/
  
• http://marketurbanism.com/
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Rent-Too-Damn-High-Matters-ebook/dp/B0078XGJXO (available at the library)
  
  And last but not least, if you want to get involved and try and change things:
  
  https://bendyimby.com/
  
  Edit if you want a real deep dive into housing issues, I highly recommend these, which have different points of view:
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Zoning-Rules-Economics-Land-Regulation-ebook/dp/B01185VTOG/ - Zoning Rules! by William Fischel
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Zoned-USA-Implications-American-Regulation-ebook/dp/B00ST5KPLW/ - Zoned in the USA by Sonia Hirt (also available at the library)