Hot button issues. Gotta love 'em. Rent control. Nothing taps into our primal survival instincts like the need for food and shelter. Housing - or lack thereof - let's discuss, shall we?
I remember studying, sweating, and toiling away with graphs, complex formulas, and economic theories with instructor Ron Schulke at Santa Rosa Junior College well over 20 years ago in Economics 1A and the subsequent Economics 1B.
I became rather miffed after my intense, studious efforts were boiled down to just three words. Supply and demand. That's economics in a nutshell.
I never wanted to punch an instructor in the face before. All that hard work - in HIS class that HE was teaching. Came. Down. To. Three. Words. I think he got some sadistic joy after making that merry little announcement to the class the end of the semester and watching our faces fall. I can still hear the collective gasp from us students like it was yesterday.
Well, that was many years ago and I have long forgiven Mr. Schulke. Given the man has been teaching well over two decades, I doubt very much he has any individual recollection of me. We all become a faceless blur. However, his lingering impact has individually settled with the students that we will never forget.
I'm getting off track. This rant is about rent control -- which in three words or less is boiled down to 'supply and demand.' That's what got me going down memory lane with Economics at SRJC. See, despite all the fancy formulas, theories, etc., we have too many people with too little housing. Whatever is rare is valuable. Anything that is common and in abundance is disposable. Sonoma County is rare with its natural beauty and proximity to commerce. Everybody wants to live here. They aren't making any more land, so of course property values explode along with the rental market. Add to the mix the nightmare of trying to build anything in this county (unless you claim Native American eminent domain) toss in an increase in humans reproducing, and voila -- exploding rents.
The problem is that if Sonoma County caves to more housing, it will become just like every other area and will lose its unique appeal. I'm thinking the people in Bolinas aren't so dumb after all.
I don't claim to have the answer to rent control. I don't have any answers to anything. All I can see are consequences to our decisions. More people just bring more problems. Guaranteed.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment