I think the way we talk about affordability isn’t just sloppy it actually makes the problem worse. When we talk about what affordable means we need a better measure. I have an article in the September edition of the Master Builder Magazine that takes this topic up yet again. My original post on this was from my days at Sightline when I suggested a different model for talking about affordability. I also wrote about this in Publicola as well. Here’s snippet of my latest on this topic:

Instead, we should develop a smarter tool to measure a family’s economic distress and create innovative programs that help struggling families afford to live in a growing city like Seattle—programs that increase income and reduce the cost of living.