And I am not envisioning "projects," like in the Cabrini-Green sense. I am saying if property tax laws were reformed, and if local governments got out of the way of the landlords and there was no Section 8 housing or rent-control laws, then the market would respond by building beautiful residential towers.
And these towers don't have to be luxury types. They can be the non-descript towers you see all over China. Micro-apartments of 300 sq ft which is enough for the homeless to sleep and to s/s/s (s--t, shower, and shave) in the bathroom.
They would only do the first of the s-s-s.
Why would they bother with the second and third ones?