If having essentially no affordable housing rendered a city an economic ghost town, then much of the Bay area and Manhattan would be &quot;ghost towns&quot; - which, in turn, would lower housing prices radically.<p>What might happen to Vancouver is probably similar to other major cities with housing crunches but an otherwise desirable economic climate: lower wage workers will be displaced further from the city and forced to commute, housing prices will remain astronomical and suck much of the gains from the area.