Assess students' ability to apply economic and policy concepts to analyze rising housing costs in a mid-sized city; scope includes supply and demand, price elasticity, construction and land costs, zoning/land-use rules, migration and demographic shifts, developer incentives and financing, speculative investment, and policy tools (rent control, subsidies, inclusionary zoning); tasks: interpret basic housing indicators, diagnose primary drivers, and propose and justify policy responses with tradeoffs.