[true_religion]

I don't see why this is an issue. Are the elderly so populous that they can force tax benefits for only themselves?

If more young people move into an area, rentees or not, they're eligible to vote and should be a large voting block all their own.

I'm surprised than in San Fran, supposedly a tech mecca, there isn't a strong opposition coming from young, able bodied tech workers, with oodles of money on their hands.

[Zach_the_Lizard]

>Are the elderly so populous that they can force tax benefits for only themselves?

They didn't call it a baby boom for nothing.

>If more young people move into an area, rentees or not, they're eligible to vote and should be a large voting block all their own.

Young people can't move in if you ban building more housing, now can they?

>I'm surprised than in San Fran, supposedly a tech mecca, there isn't a strong opposition coming from young, able bodied tech workers, with oodles of money on their hands.

Once they buy, they, too, benefit from these laws. Also: they make up a small portion of the population

[true_religion]

> They didn't call it a baby boom for nothing.

Perhaps, but young people are the children of baby boomers so there ought to be more of them.

Statistics seem to show that intuition is correct:

"Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as the nation's largest living generation, according to population estimates released this month by the U.S. Census Bureau. Millennials, whom we define as those ages 18-34 in 2015, now number 75.4 million, surpassing the 74.9 million Baby Boomers (ages 51-69)" [1]

That still doesn't mean that there isn't a greater than expected share of elderly citizens in San Fran. Parts of Florida are quite like that.

Were you saying that there are more elderly citizens (51+) in San Fran than young?

[1] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-...

[ThrustVectoring]

Tech is only 10% of the SF workforce. The rest of the area gets way too much out of inflating housing prices and potential job competitors' rents while being immune to the downsides due to rent control or Prop 13.

Also, what tends to happen is that the young folks move into commuting distance of the centralized jobs. If you BART into SF from the East Bay because you can't afford an apartment in SF, you can't vote for housing policies that would build apartments that you'd be able to move into.

[xapata]

Young people don't vote; they're busy working, and too cynical.

Retirees vote en masse. Thus the host of government programs taking money from the youth and unborn and giving it to the elderly.

[pc86]

Which makes the "FYIGM" mindset all the more dangerous. I've seen plenty of people even on HN say some version of "well it was tough when I was younger but it all worked out so we shouldn't change things to my detriment now"

[xapata]

It's like hazing. "Pay your dues" is just going through initiation.

One of my favorites was hearing my professor say, "Now that I have tenure, I think it's a wonderful system!" He had been complaining about the tenure system as capricious, foolish, etc. for a while. He's a great guy, so it's not that he changed his mind, exactly. He knew all his past criticism was still relevant, but he was acknowledging his strong disincentive to fight the system.

[sokoloff]

When I was renting apartments in Cambridge, MA, there was always a clause inserted that the tenant was responsible for tax increases, to ensure that tenants also carefully considered the costs of potential tax increases against the possible upside of the increased spending.

I thought that was fairly clever, and should I ever become a landlord, you can be sure that I'll include that clause if legal in the area I'm renting. (The reality is that the tenant is the one bringing the money that pays the property tax anyway; this clause just makes it explicit and helps align the landlord and tenant's interests.)

Language was similar to this (found on the web):

However, if in any tax year commencing with the fiscal year ____________ the real estate taxes on the land and buildings, of which the leased premises are a part, are in excess of the amount of the real estate taxes thereon for the fiscal year ____________, (herein called the “Base Year”, and being the most recent year in which the Lessor has actually received a real estate tax bill for the leased premises) Lessee will pay to Lessor as additional rent hereunder, when and as designated by notice in writing by Lessor, ___________ per cent of such excess that may occur in each year of the term of this Lease or any extension or renewal thereof and proportionately for any part of a fiscal year. The Lessor represents to the Lessee that the term rent set forth in the immediately preceding paragraph (A) does not reflect any real estate tax increase subsequent to the said Base Year. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the Lessee shall be obligated to pay only that proportion of such increased tax as the unit leased him bears to the whole of the real estate so taxed, and if the Lessor obtains an abatement of the real estate tax levied on the whole of the real estate of which the unit leased by Lessee is a part, a proportionate share of such abatement, less reasonable attorney’s fees, if any, shall be refunded to said Lessee.