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From: rcb@fortune.UUCP (Robert Binstock)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: Rental Housing, rent control
Message-ID: <3263@fortune.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 9-May-84 12:15:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: fortune.3263
Posted: Wed May  9 12:15:27 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 10-May-84 00:09:11 EDT
References: <176@ccieng2.UUCP>, <4624@amd70.UUCP>
Organization: Fortune Systems, Redwood City, CA
Lines: 41

>>While the people already in apartments get a bargain, it comes
>>at the expense of the landlord who isn't stupid and won't build
>>any new apartment buildings.

>>As to all this talk about how wonderful Cambridge is under
>>rent control, I had a hard time finding a apartment when I
>>was there. But I was an MIT student and not entitled to have
>>a place to live, I suppose.

1. New apartment buildings ARE being built in Cambridge.  If you don't
   believe me, call up the Cambridge City Manager's office and ask
   how many units were added to the city's stock in 1982 and 1983.

2. I have never heard of a truly big-city area where it wasn't hard to
   find an apartment.  I hate looking for apartments and it always
   takes a lot out of me.  But "hard" is a relative term.  I don't 
   know what experiences all of you people had, but my own were just not
   that bad any of the times I was looking in Cambridge.  Considering
   that Cambridge is the 4th densest city in the country and that over
   half of its residents are renters, I would expect it to take
   SOME work to find a place with or without rent control.  None
   of the experiences I had in Cambridge (or those that my friends have
   had) come CLOSE to what I hear and read about in San Francisco.

   Also, the question is what you pay when you DO find a place.  

3. Landlords in the U.S. have grown used to the idea of getting rich
   without making investments.  Any TRUE capitalist knows that you
   have to spend money to make money.  All rent control systems that
   I have ever heard of allow for a raise in rents when significant
   capital investment is made.  That makes owning property like
   any other business.  What rent control does is discourage quick-
   buck speculators.  These people are STILL doing their best to 
   drain Cambridge dry.  Without rent control, the whole city
   would be $200,000 condos by now.  Contrary to the impressions
   of those who live in or visit Cambridge but never leave Harvard
   Square, there are maybe 75,000 people in the city who can't
   afford $200,000 condos.

[If the rest of you are getting VERY BORED by this bickering over
 rent control, post something telling us to shut up.]