Either the public sector builds housing — funding it, managing it, and owning it — or the private sector is given enough incentive to do so at scale.

For decades, the city has relied primarily on the private market. There is an illustrious if limited history of nonprofit housing development, but it is not currently in wide use. Programs like 421-a, and now 485-x, are designed to bridge the gap between what it costs to build housing and what the market can support.