I am eager to see innovative…

I am eager to see innovative and PROVEN approaches to adding additional housing space without reducing green space. I see farm land rapidly being snatched up and developed with nothing being returned to green space. We KNOW we cannot continue with this spread and sprawl - the only benefactors of our current practices are the developers and eventually even they won't win as the planet burns up. There are endless inspirational ideas from which to choose: Incentivize building owners to expand on top of their existing commercial buildings in the rural downtown cores. Since small town retail areas continue to struggle, a focus on beefing up mixed-use zoning will help to keep stores alive and vital and downtown areas safe and populated. Change zoning so that properly executed basement apartments are safe and viable. This is a win/win for affordable home purchases and for addressing the housing shortage. Enact policies that block investment attempts from homegrown buyers that strive to commodify shelter and housing. Make housing collectives easier to build - dorm-style living with communal kitchens and other shared spaces. Provide financial aid to under-used and out-dated motels/hotels to convert to safe, clean housing options. Almost any idea is better than the same tiresome and destructive housing developments we currently revere. Look to the Netherlands and other countries that are already doing what we need to do. I love the natural world and `I want what is left of it to thrive and support us as we support it. I want homelessness to be a thing of the past. I want unsightly and unethical McMansions to be icons of a bygone and ill-conceived past.