The Rent Crisis Won’t Go Away Without More Housing

San Francisco, the archetype of the urban housing affordability crisis, appears to have decided that enough is enough. Proposition E, a ballot measure that will be voted on in March and is widely predicted to pass, will tie construction of new office space in the city to building subsidized, affordable housing. If the city falls short of its commitments to the state to build the latter, the cap on the former will be lowered by the same percentage. Because San Francisco’s elected officials tend to nix most new housing construction, including the affordable variety, this means there could soon be a shortage of office space as well.

That will probably restrain rents. Fewer offices mean fewer workers in the city, because most people live near where they work. That translates into less demand for housing, which will reduce the pressure on rents. This will come as a relief for beleaguered middle-class families at risk of being priced out of their homes. But it also carries risks for the city; restrictions on new office space could also see local businesses and smaller companies priced out by deep-pocketed tech behemoths, hastening the city’s transformation into a town dominated by a few large companies. That's not the optimal way of fighting rising rents.