Economy
Venture Capital Might Be Raising Your Rent
But zoning for less density is ruining your city.
Venture capital spurs high rents. High rents absorb venture capital. The only way out of San Francisco’s vicious housing cycle is through better zoning: building as much housing as it takes to absorb the demand. But the soaring rents and the investment rush actually conspire against building more supply.
Homeowners who have turned venture capital into enormous property wealth don’t need any more housing. Many people who love San Francisco for its character (not its proximity to Silicon Valley) don’t want to build more housing, either. NIMBYists would rather try to destroy the demand (however that works), so they work to enact things like housing moratoriums.