The (Unaffordable) House We All Live In

Which brings me back to Mayor Fenty and his affordable-housing initiative. As laudable as it may be, can such an initiative do much to solve the affordable-housing problem in the District if most of the other jurisdictions in the region are limiting growth of housing of all types, driving up real estate prices throughout the region?

Does it accomplish anything if, to finance this new "affordable housing," you impose fees or obligations that only drive up even further the price of housing?

And if, by solving its own affordable-housing shortage, the District winds up attracting working families from other jurisdictions -- or, even worse, encouraging those jurisdictions to do nothing about low-cost housing -- is that good for the District?

I don't raise these questions to suggest that the District throw up its hands and do nothing, or that the problem best be left to the markets. Quite the opposite. What I am suggesting is that the housing problem -- like the transportation problem and the public hospital problem and the problem of workforce training-- will only be solved by collaboration among all the governments in the region.

I can't say how such a collaboration would work. But it would likely begin with the regular meetings among the mayor and the top elected officials of the major counties, staffed by the existing Council of Governments, with regular appearances by the governors of Maryland and Virginia. And if experience elsewhere is any guide, it would have to involve the active support of a business community finally willing to ignore political boundaries and narrow industry interests, and throw its weight around for the good of the regional economy.

Any takers?

Steven Pearlstein can be reached atpearlsteins@washingtonpost.com.