My point is: many communities already regulate housing significantly. They regulate what extensions are permitted, they regulate how the house may appear from the street, they mandate the use of historically accurate materials. They do this on the basis that what your house looks like matters to your neighbors. I see regulating the rent as a valid extension of that.

And why not also skin color, hair style, and types of music therein?
Don’t you find rhetorical questions a weak form of argument?

Those members of the community who deem themselves appropriate to judge who should get to live with them could then directly and personally subsidize those who need it, rather than imposing statutory constraints on the landlords.

Pinski: thanks for the link.

I know LA, SF and Oakland all have rent control. Berkeley and East Palo Alto has it too. To me rent control is needed for at least East Palo Alto. Otherwise you run out all the needed folks to do jobs that some folks don’t want to do.

– Pinski

is like any other well-intentioned example of centrally planned economies. Rarely used wisely.