Re: “Tacoma loosens eviction restrictions in attempt to save affordable housing” (Dec. 22, Project Homeless):
Greg Kim writes that affordable housing providers are struggling because they must compete with a private market where rents are “abnormally low.” But what, exactly, is abnormal about private developers building and renting apartments at prices set by supply, demand and regulatory constraints?
If market-rate rents are approaching those of subsidized housing, that may indicate that a combination of market forces and public policy has succeeded in producing relatively affordable housing. Rather than treating this outcome as an aberration, it may be worth asking whether the private market — when properly regulated — can be part of the solution to housing affordability.
Curtis DeGasperi, Seattle
