A Chicago Alderman just demonstrated why trying to solve affordability at a local level works poorly at best. Alderman Maldonado down zoned a collection of properties to "combat gentrification". On it's own, that would be the worst solution as it's decreasing available housing, which will only push up the prices of the remaining housing. There's a small silver lining in that he claimed this was a negotiating tactic to push more affordable housing into development plans.