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Our View: Opening the doors for more housing Wednesday Dec 21, 2016 at 12:01 AM Medford has an affordable housing crisis, as does Ashland, Bend, Portland and just about any city of any size in the state. That suggests it's Oregon that has the crisis, which in turn suggests the state has a structural problem. To fix that, the state and local municipalities need to own the problem, rather than try to foist it off entirely on landlords and builders. A Sunday story by Mail Tribune reporter Greg Stiles detailed the problem in Jackson County. Rental vacancies remain near or below 2 percent, and new construction — about 600 single family and apartment units in 2016 through October — isn't keeping up with population growth. That invokes the laws of supply and demand, pushing prices beyond the means of too many families. The Legislature earlier this year approved an inclusionary zoning measure allowing cities to require that up to 20 percent of larger multi-family developments consist of affordable housing. In exchange, the developers would be eligible for tax waivers or permission to build taller buildings. The Legislature also cleared the way for cities to impose construction excise taxes that could be used to help pay for affordable housing developments and approved some price protections for renters. The approved package of bills was a modest effort, but did represent movement. But local and state officials need to do more — and this time they need to focus inside their own buildings rather than passing more of the burden onto the private sector. Oregon, with its volumes and volumes and volumes of land-use regulations, can be a difficult place to do business, and some cities add to that with a bureaucratic dot-the-i and cross-the-t mentality. Every city and county that is faced with a housing crunch should put high on their New Year's list of resolutions a pledge to be an enabler for, rather than an impediment to new housing construction. According to some, Medford has a reputation of being difficult and time-consuming for developers and builders to work with. The Medford City Council should open its year by asking, "Why is that?" And then do something about it. Ashlanders express great sympathy for people facing a housing crunch, but then rally against multi-use developments and efforts to open up new residential areas. City leaders there need to brace for the almost certain criticism anytime they approve new development. And then do the right thing. There may be small tweaks that would make a difference or it may take a full-scale remodel in some departments, but governments from the state to the cities need to own the issue and resolve to do something about it. There's a simple truth at the base of all this: We won't have more affordable housing until we have more available housing.