Housing doesn’t fit the traditional supply/demand model b/c of the time constraint. It takes time to build housing but companies can grow and hire faster than housing can be built. You don’t want to overbuild and create ghost towns where developers go bankrupt trying to sell (a couple of these places exist in Europe, Canada, and America - I think China too but I haven’t seen it in person), but you don’t want to underbuild a la SF. So I agree with you that the zoning laws have a lot to do with it - but housing isn’t an instant commodity either - it can take many years, esp for high density projects.
*typed with thumbs
Companies can't grow faster than the supply of office space, which also has time constraints.
Are you implying that Arlington does not have a real estate tax based on property value?
Otherwise it seems you are saying that Arlington should arbitrarily seize all profits from landlords because landlords are evil boogiemen.