[zjaffee]

Rent control tacked to region wide inflation levels is still good policy even if it's bad economics. People should have an inherent right to place, if they didn't the immigration and native rights debates around the world would be non-existent.

Rent control also has the positive effect that if renters put in effort to improve the economic value of their community and neighborhood, that they wouldn't be displaced in the process. I'd also point out that rent control doesn't always have to happen as a result of low supply, nor does rent control necessarily reduce housing construction should zoning be relaxed in the process (in the era with the highest levels of rent control in Manhattan, was also the era of the highest amount of construction).

[rsync]

"People should have an inherent right to place ..."

If that is the case, wouldn't we all just choose Aspen (or La Jolla or Zurich, depending on tastes) ?

It's not obvious to me how recognizing an inherent right to live in any place would be operable ...

[zjaffee]

This isn't about choosing where to live, and as a matter of fact Zurich does have very strong tenant protections and rent controls. This is about if you've lived somewhere 20 years, and the neighborhood changes, where you were a part of improving the conditions of the neighborhood, you should have the right to remain in your home at a price you can afford.

We as a society should incentivize people improving their neighborhoods, as right now we're doing the exact opposite in areas with large numbers of renters.

[lr4444lr]

If people have an "inherent right to place" that extends to the actual address, what's the incentive to private residency land ownership?

[zjaffee]

I probably wasn't clear on this, but I'm referring more towards the broader neighborhood a person lives in. At least currently, rent control and land ownership is the only clear way to prevent outsiders from coming in and disrupting the community.

[jschwartzi]

Just what kind of outsiders are you so worried about?

[zjaffee]

The kind that come in, buy up property and evict every tenant living in said building, followed by raising prices such that no one who lived in the area previously could afford it.

This isn't about outsiders who move to a neighborhood with the goal of having a place to live, this is about investors walking into a neighborhood and viewing it as a financial opportunity.

[lr4444lr]

So you DO mean right to place by address, when pressed about it. That's a pretty nativist impulse.

[leetcrew]

why of all things should people have the right to live in a dwelling they dont even own for a fixed price in perpetuity? prop 13 is pretty awful but at least it makes slightly more sense than rent control.

[zjaffee]

I never said it should have to be at a fixed price, and you could ask the same question for why does a person own property that they don't live in.

Landlordism and rent seeking is an inherently immoral thing that we allow to exist in our society, and we need land value taxes alongside reasonable rent controls (like the ones Oregon just passed) to stop these behaviors.