I mostly agree with you, except that rent control can reduce demand by disincentivizing people from moving to your city. I suspect this is one of the reasons SF's rent control is popular.
But then, yeah, the real goal is "keep housing prices low, and keep newcomers out," not "rent control."
"Rent control, no other changes" doesn't just disincentivize people from moving to your city, it disincentivizes movement altogether.
I see rent control as a fix for a symptom. Answering the question about the ideal living condition for a city and how to grow successful, long lasting sustainable, healthy cities is the real issue. Rent control is a bandage, and the collection of rent adjustment policies is not as elegant as just a strong set of policies to promote healthy cities.
Admittedly this is really, really idealistic, it ignores the fact that we have a lot of cities that need help right now, and it assumes that there is a standardized way to build great cities.
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I mostly agree with you, except that rent control can reduce demand by disincentivizing people from moving to your city. I suspect this is one of the reasons SF's rent control is popular.
But then, yeah, the real goal is "keep housing prices low, and keep newcomers out," not "rent control."
"Rent control, no other changes" doesn't just disincentivize people from moving to your city, it disincentivizes movement altogether.
I see rent control as a fix for a symptom. Answering the question about the ideal living condition for a city and how to grow successful, long lasting sustainable, healthy cities is the real issue. Rent control is a bandage, and the collection of rent adjustment policies is not as elegant as just a strong set of policies to promote healthy cities.
Admittedly this is really, really idealistic, it ignores the fact that we have a lot of cities that need help right now, and it assumes that there is a standardized way to build great cities.
What's the proposed mechanism that would disincentivize people from moving somewhere where rents are more affordable?