Officials in Ypsilanti were suprised by the large turnout of applicants for Section 8 rent vouchers issued to people who meet certain criteria as the working poor in Washtenaw County. Rent vouchers are an often overlooked way for the government to help provide low and middle income housing in places like Ann Arbor, where anti-student, anti-growth city officials block new housing construction, and have voted against reasonable ordinances that would increase the density of the downtown area. Of course there’s a catch: most suburban towns and cities zone out apartments completely, and also opt out of participating in the federal government’s Section 8 program.