SF isn't the whole world. Yes, there is gov't insanity in housing in the US, but bad housing decisions are made across the US' various states and city governments.

Canada, with a much more sensible gov't [0], has similar woes driven by building idiotic high rises.

[0] Govt spending as a fraction of GDP is similar; the suburbs are much higher density than the US; the line at the DMV takes less then 15 minutes; a new passport takes 2 hours to get from when it was requested (clearly I've lived in very many places).