[mullingitover]

Public housing doesn't have to mean free housing for everyone, it can merely mean subsidies are in place to ensure that real estate market failures like the ones that exist nationwide today don't result in extortionate housing costs and growing slums.

[seanmcdirmid]

Subsidies without new supply mean we can just throw even more money at existing housing stocks. We could also go with the current system in place now where some people win the housing lottery and get an affordable place to live, but it doesn’t really scale.

[mullingitover]

When I say subsidies I'm talking about new construction that is funded by subsidies, not merely throwing more money into a supply-constrained market.