The Town Council's initial reaction to the proposed redevelopment of Colony Apartments (see "Council balks" in the CH News, 7/3/12) is classic Chapel Hill: act high-minded when, in fact, our head is buried deep in the sand. I am an affordable housing advocate and a Chapel Hill resident, but I take a different view of this development proposal.
Am I concerned by the potential loss of one of the community's few apartment complexes that serves a working class population? Of course. Yet the reason such apartment complexes are scarce is that as a community we persistently fail to understand the ongoing impact of our many protectionist, restrictive policies that curb the supply of housing. (With all the PhDs in this town, you'd think we could understand basic supply and demand by now.)