It appears to me that once a society becomes large enough a majority of the problems left to solve are collection action problems, I think the housing crisis in West Coast cities in particular is an example of a collection action problem.

I keep up with the NIMBY/YIMBY divide both in my home: Portland, OR and in the Bay Area. And I've noticed a few trends: You can't build high in certain areas because it blocks the view for wealth homeowners, you can't build moderate density buildings because it "changes the character of the neighborhood", you can't extend rail into certain areas because rail bring minori-- eh, crime. And you can't build near existing rail because it should be up to each individual community to decide what gets built in their location.

Where are you supposed to build? Something has to give, and it looks like as always its poor folk who are suffering. Being pushed out further and further with a lack of adequate transportation support to get to urban job centers.