[Finnucane]

Or not. I mean, we used to have rent control in Boston and Cambridge, and when it was eliminated (by statewide referendum) rents just went up. And they went up in surrounding areas, as people went looking for cheaper rent elsewhere.

[seoaeu]

A trend which surely had nothing to do with the tech/biotech boom in the area. When a region gains hundreds of thousands of new jobs and doesn't build housing to compensate, then rents are going to increase

[Finnucane]

There's actually been a fair bit of construction. In fact, a 2400 unit development is under construction here right now.

[seoaeu]

There have literally been hundreds of thousands of new jobs created in the region in recent decades. Cambridge alone added nearly 50,000 new jobs since 1980!

So yes 2400 units is a start, but we need dozens more like it before we start to even come close to solving the shortage.

[Finnucane]

>Cambridge alone added nearly 50,000 new jobs

But not 50,000 new residents. Adding jobs doesn't necessarily mean more people, just more employed people.

[seoaeu]

Of course Cambridge didn't add significantly more people than it added housing units. People aren't going to move to the city for a job only to live in a tent down by the railroad tracks!

Instead what happened is that new residents came to the city for high paying jobs and bid up the prices for local apartments. Basically a cruel game of musical chairs where low-income households were forced from their homes and into cheaper neighborhoods in the surrounding cities. (Those poor neighborhoods actually did grow in population faster than housing: people were forced to pack into overcrowded living conditions)

If you're curious about the numbers, over the last 40 years Cambridge added about one housing unit for every four new jobs

[tacker2000]

The thing with boston/Cambridge is that in addition to “great” companies there are also several top notch universities there so the competition for apartments is even greater.

[Finnucane]

You know that people don’t all live in the place they work in, right? A lot of them don’t even want to.

[colinmhayes]

Because people were previously unable to find units where they wanted, so they were forced to live further away. Now everyone can compete for the good location units so price goes up.

[zip1234]

This is why supply is constrained in Boston and most places: http://www.bostonplans.org/zoning

[qnsi]

what you are saying is not contradictory to the commentor you reply to.

Rents go up, because price ceiling is removed. Idea is that in the future supply increases and you don't have to wear a suit when looking for a flat