[anovikov]

How do you fix it, except dismantling democracy, simply sending unhappy locals NIMBYsts to gulags, or dismantling the capitalism, making the Valley just as unattractive as any other place? We had both of these in the Soviet Union and it didn't look nice.

[bryanlarsen]

Nope, it's just rules and bureaucracy. They were created by the state and can be removed by the state.

[anovikov]

But they are created at the will of the people, who live in those cities. They can't afford these rules to be broken - they will literally lose their life savings, their retirement, everything, if the housing cost drops. They would vote for everyone who promises to do exactly one thing: prevent any new residential construction around, and prevent (meaningful) mass transit from being built. Because both things depress their home values.

No other way around it except destroying democracy (or hollowing it out, when you vote but it doesn't matter, Putinist style), or destroying capitalism.

These things are just healthy signs that both capitalism and democracy actually work in your place, and are not fakes.