27. lower rent
According to the 200 census, the Village of New Paltz has a .46% vacancy rate for rental housing. Studies have shown that a community needs at least a 5% vacancy rate to avoid inflation of housing prices. At a 5% rate, land-lords have to compete for tenants just enough that they maintain their properties better and keep prices reasonably low and affordable. Using development of high-density, mixed use neighborhoods, build enough new housing to establish a 5% vacancy rate.
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This makes more sense than trying to legislate affordable housing. Politicians often make the mistake of believing they understand economic forces well enough to control them – I think that it’s based on the faulty assumption that just because we invented money that we also created the rules that govern how it works. Finding a solution that utilizes economic forces is much more likely to succeed than one that seeks to change those laws.