> Doug's discussion of rent control weirdnesses
> happens here too. Basically,
> controls on occupied units constitute a large part
> of Berkeley's
> "affordable" housing programs. Despite having a
> couple of million to
> provide developers to build new housing here, we
> can't build it fast enough
> to make a dent in rents.
>
Of course, there might be other weirdnesses here in Berzerkly. When I bought my house in SW Berkeley (which had been a spec ground-up renovation), I had an opportunity to speak to the guy who built it. He wasn't a professional developer, just an engineer who fixed up houses in his spare time. He vowed he would never build a house in Berkeley again - that the endless regulations drove him crazy. 'Course, I suppose every builder says that, but he seemed particularly vehement that Berkeley was much worse than any other town he'd dealt with...
Jim Baird
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