Guest Editorial: Where the "Invisible Hand" Doesn't WorkMarc Salomonbyline‚ Apr. 02‚ 2007If you were not experiencing vertigo trying to make sense of the peculiar characteristics of housing in San Francisco, the March 28 panel discussion — sponsored by Citibank and put on by the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition (SF-HAC, pronounced 'hack') — on how to produce "middle class" housing would have set your head spinning. It is apparent to anyone paying attention to the whole enchilada of housing politics and economics that this phenomenon tends towards the counterintuitive. Since 2000, we have seen in San Francisco an increase in the supply of housing by 15,000 units — and a decrease in demand due to a drop in population between 25,000 and 50,000 people. |