Since 1938 US government is backing housing via guaranteed mortgages. These are "money supply-side" policies that boost demand.
I'm saying that just like with healthcare and higher education, since supply is fairly limited dumping more money into those markets just raises the price.
> there is always more demand than supply in SF and in many places
That doesn't mean much. The equilibrium point is what matters. If there were more supply prices would be a lot lower. Of course desirable lots/houses/apartments will be priced higher. The problem is that house prices are going up too much, the barrier to entry (to join the community) is going up, also rents are going up (the price to stay part of the community is going up).
Plus, it's not like the demand is infinite. Let's say 10 million people want to move to SF. That's a very finite number.
And I'm not saying sure, let's build HongKong2.0.
> (also - people have a right to manage their own communities as they see fit.)
I agree with the spirit of self-determination, but alas I'm not well versed enough in the ethical problems with determining which group's interest have primacy when groups' interests overlap. After all if someone commutes every day to SF they are just as part of the community, and they might like to move closer. They want density. But this obviously quickly leads to the tragedy of the anti-commons. Everybody in that "SF community" has a vested interest in living in a nice and healthy city, but they would have to agree on how to manage housing. Usually nobody wants to voluntarily give up their advantageous spot. Nobody wants a big construction and high-rise as their neighbor. The common resource (land) gets under utilized. (NIMBYism. Plus gentrification as people who want money sell their houses to exploit this situation, which then pushes up prices of local services, which puts even more people into financial peril, who then increasingly feel that selling their property and moving is their only option.)
That sounds like a disaster or a gold-rush. What's the fair way to manage this? A quota system? First-come first-serve? The current system is rich people only.
"And I'm not saying sure, let's build HongKong2.0."
Yes you are.
If they removed controls and zoning, SF would go radically vertical, and over 30-50 years, it would be NYC/Hong Kong like.
There is no 'ethical' problem here - there is plenty of land, people can move towards Sac. and other places. Those other places could feasibly chose to build taller builddings and more density as well.
Since 1938 US government is backing housing via guaranteed mortgages. These are "money supply-side" policies that boost demand.
I'm saying that just like with healthcare and higher education, since supply is fairly limited dumping more money into those markets just raises the price.
> there is always more demand than supply in SF and in many places
That doesn't mean much. The equilibrium point is what matters. If there were more supply prices would be a lot lower. Of course desirable lots/houses/apartments will be priced higher. The problem is that house prices are going up too much, the barrier to entry (to join the community) is going up, also rents are going up (the price to stay part of the community is going up).
Plus, it's not like the demand is infinite. Let's say 10 million people want to move to SF. That's a very finite number.
And I'm not saying sure, let's build HongKong2.0.
> (also - people have a right to manage their own communities as they see fit.)
I agree with the spirit of self-determination, but alas I'm not well versed enough in the ethical problems with determining which group's interest have primacy when groups' interests overlap. After all if someone commutes every day to SF they are just as part of the community, and they might like to move closer. They want density. But this obviously quickly leads to the tragedy of the anti-commons. Everybody in that "SF community" has a vested interest in living in a nice and healthy city, but they would have to agree on how to manage housing. Usually nobody wants to voluntarily give up their advantageous spot. Nobody wants a big construction and high-rise as their neighbor. The common resource (land) gets under utilized. (NIMBYism. Plus gentrification as people who want money sell their houses to exploit this situation, which then pushes up prices of local services, which puts even more people into financial peril, who then increasingly feel that selling their property and moving is their only option.)
(You might have read this recent story about newcomers and old timers in Austin: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26567350 )
> If a million people try move to a village
That sounds like a disaster or a gold-rush. What's the fair way to manage this? A quota system? First-come first-serve? The current system is rich people only.