When the city standards include such requirements as no more than 3 (or 4 depending on the city) unrelated people living in a house or a requirement of 1200 square feet(or more) to get a building permit and other similar restrictions you drastically increase costs of housing.  When you insist on amenities like AC and high end heating solutions to meet code you increase housing costs.   Yes those things are nice but I think you would agree that many that can't afford 1200 sf homes might be able to afford a 500 sf home.   And just increasing wages does NOTHING to making homes more affordable.... that just increases the costs of everything.