The deepening affordable housing crisis is poised to play a central role in this year?s local, statewide, and even federal elections. Candidates have proposed changes to housing policy, and new spending plans that could dramatically remake neighborhoods across the country. | Shutterstock

On a federal and local level, candidates have bold plans for tackling affordability and equity Bay Area housing advocate Randy Shaw, like many in his field, has been disappointed by the Democratic presidential debates this election season. Despite social media pressure, it was proving impossible to get debate moderators to treat housing as a top-tier issue. A question about building affordable housing during the November 20 debate in Atlanta, answered by just three candidates, was the only mention of the topic during the seven debates so far. Shaw found it especially frustrating because many of those debates were located in cities?Miami, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles?that were in the grips of the national affordable housing crisis.
?These are all Democratic cities where housing affordability is a top issue,? says Shaw, who wrote a book about the housing crisis in U.S. cities. ?And the housing movement has never been at a stronger place, at least in terms of pushing the agenda at the federal level.?
Indeed, after barely getting on the radar in recent presidential election years, the deepening affordable housing crisis is poised to play a central role in this year?s loc...