Except why is no one asking the question why so few places are desirable and doing something to alleviate it.
People want to live at increasingly more desirable places, and that is true even more so for people who cannot afford to: If such desirability was no object in their quest, Detroit would be full of people, the Bay Area wouldn't have so many issues with housing, and housing prices would be a non-issue.
If the alternative is "everywhere sucks equally", which is the likely outcome of a national-level central planning, I doubt you will find many takers.
You don't even need centralized planning. Just implement a proper land value tax [0] so that the desirability of a plot of land has to be commensurately paid for by the owner.
Plenty of ideas and people trying out there, just not much interest from the every day person.