[ihaveajob]

The board of supervisors routinely rejects housing projects, or puts them up for an absurd review process that involve things like banning buildings if they cast a sliver of shadow on a park (which would on the other hand be tremendously welcome these days). Several supervisors are landlords who are personally invested in keeping the supply low so that prices keep rising.

By contrast, Seattle has been building to keep up with demand and has been able to manage prices much more effectively. We could have had a Tokyo of the West. Instead, we're left with an emptying shell of a self-agrandizing suburb.

[kelnos]

And who do you think effectively controls the BoS and planning commission? Voters. Landowning voters. Because by and large, they want to maintain the status quo.

(Full disclosure: I also own property in SF, but am in faor of all sorts of new housing, even that which will lower my home's value.)

[ihaveajob]

Yes, especially in local elections, where participation is often ridiculously low, the electorate skews heavily toward long time, older residents, and more on the homeowner than the renter front. So the incentives are clear against new developments.

Edit: Thanks for supporting housing even against your financial interests. I’m on the same boat (across the bay). In my case I just want to live somewhere walkable without breaking the bank.

[vkou]

> By contrast, Seattle has been building to keep up with demand and has been able to manage prices much more effectively.

Do you live in Seattle? Because that's not what anyone who lives here who is not making a tech salary thinks.

[NotSammyHagar]

There is enough new housing here that apt buildings went down in monthly cost last summer. People keep moving here so house prices have been stubbornly resilient.

[rtlfe]

According to this, Seattle rents doubled from 2010 to 2016 and have been fairly flat since then. SF seems to follow basically the same curve: up 1.5x from 2010 to 2016 then flat-ish.

https://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-seattle-rent-tren...

https://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-san-francisco-ren...

[NotSammyHagar]

That about matches this story, but some places had small drops and the hidden price reductions by keeping monthly price high but giving free months. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/renter-boo...

Maybe I was too much on the dropping side but the article says prices had been booming like you said for a decade and 10k units were filled and then prices stabilized.