We do not need to destroy…

We do not need to destroy more arable land to build housing. Our issue is not lack of housing -- it is lack of affordable housing, lack of regulations, and outdated, unsustainable zoning laws. There are tens of thousands of houses, if not more, sitting empty while people are forced to sleep rough in the streets. Landlords buying up houses as "investments" and allowing them to sit and decay while they charge exorbitant, ever-increasing rents. Unaffordable single-family homes in suburbia take up vasts amount of space and force those who live there to become car-dependent. To do away with arbitrary zoning laws that only allow these single-family homes to be built, then building affordable, rent controlled apartment buildings, is a much better direction to go. This initiative is ill-directed and serves to only continue the issue of urban sprawl. We need to reorient ourselves and look at what actually works to benefit everyone, especially the worst off.