The basic problem is a shortage of supply. I think last year Senate bill 1 in California required zoning within a half mile of a rapid transit hub to permit building up to 85 feet high with limits on required parking spaces. Then similar but softer requirements up to a mile from the rapid transit hub. Something like that. Almost no new residences are built in San Francisco. That is why rents are crazy high. Restrictive zoning, restricted building permits, stop building. Why do we permit that? It causes tremendous hardship. I think I read that economists think if super productive employees could afford to live near California’s super productive firms and research centers then the California economy would explode with growth. I know people want their neighborhoods to remain “nice” but the cost is that those with average income and below are driven into poverty. Let’s balance those concerns. Add a million housing units in San Francisco and we wouldn’t have much need for rent control. I propose a bill that anyone in California who says “not in my back yard” be required to wear a MAGA hat for 24 hours. Living in California I think that would suffice to virtually eliminate such an expression. We have a high rent crisis. We can fix it.

Rent controls make no economic sense. I can see putting some brakes on rent increases to allow individuals some time to adjust, but eventually rent should reflect the market price for the rental.