| There are key differences between building more highways and building more dense housing. I suspect induced demand is more of an effect with highways than housing. People can change their driving habits from day to day more easily than they can change their living habits. Expand a highway, and more people in the area start taking more car trips on it. Add housing, and more people don't instantly come into existence to occupy it. (Maybe, over a few years, people stop cramming themselves into crowded roommate arrangements as much, and over decades they have more kids.) But if I granted that induced demand applied to both... Driving is a means to an end. People stuck in traffic are suffering. Having a home is an end in itself. People need shelter, and living near your community/job/family is a huge quality of life improvement. Plus, when you expand a highway, strictly more mileage is created. It's not like the additional car trips in this city are taking the place of car trips in another state. It's a net loss for society and the environment. Whereas, when you add housing, even if it induces more people to move into that city, they're moving out of some other city, easing the demand in the housing market there. |