Yaidi Cancel Martinez is a professor of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

She said she agrees with opinions from lawmakers that there is a shortage of affordable rental housing in Wisconsin. 

Cancel Martinez noted construction companies and developers themselves are paying more for supplies because of inflation, which is only leading to more rent price increases passed on to consumers. 

Cancel Martinez said, for now, the most efficient way to incentive builders to construct apartments at lower price points is through government aid or tax credits. 

But she said, long term, there’s a broader conversation needed regarding the societal obligation to provide affordable housing to local workers. 

Cancel Martinez also said that luxury apartment developments that have become popular in Madison and Milwaukee, while popular, do bring with them the risk of gentrification and driving people out of areas as they become too expensive.