Our system only works in the face of relatively modest demand. If we ever truly had housing demand spike to coastal levels, I think we would eventually have the same supply crunch and we would be similarly beclowning ourselves. It would take awhile, because the South and West Sides have so much vacancy/abandonment.
Per 2018 data here (helpful because it is city-level, not MSA):
https://www.governing.com/archive/ci...ta-totals.html
Chicago and NYC are building about the same rate per capita at 23-24 units for every 10,000 residents. LA is in a higher tier at 40 units for every 10k residents, despite the awful narrative on Twitter. For large cities, the best performers are predictably Sun Belt cities like Atlanta, Austin, Orlando with over 100 units per 10k residents. Outside of the Sun Belt the best performers are Denver, Seattle, Oakland, Jersey City.