The COVID-19 Pandemic Makes California ’s Housing Crisis Even More Urgent

Michael D. Tanner andDavid HerveyFor Californians who have long opposed building more housing in their communities, COVID-19 has provided a new and seemingly convincing argument: density is dangerous. Some have evensuggested that the pandemic vindicates proponents of “single‐​family sprawl” or justifies a moratorium on new housing legislation, which are views these observers would likely hold regardless of the current crisis.At first glance, the argument against density seems correct, but evidence suggests there are other factors at play.A virus that transmits person to person ismuch more likely to spread in areas where large numbers of people congregate. That ’s one reason why urban centers like New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles have been hit hard.And, it is the logic behind social distancing. But, as with so many anti ‐​housing arguments, there is less here than meets the eye.Simply look at those Asian countries that have done a far better job of containing the virus than we have, despite extreme density.For example, Seoul, South Korea is about 50 percent denser than NYC but has had less than one percent as many cases per capita. Likewise, extremely dense Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taipei have held their infection rates to much lower levels than cities in this country. Undoubtedly, previous experience with infectious diseases like SARS improved not only governments ’ responses to the current crisis but alsoindividuals ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs