Not the other way around.

Editor,

New housing developments, especially in world-class cities like NYC or San Francisco, are increasingly geared to making a killing for their investors by catering to the wealthiest people in the world. As at every other level of government, money talks, so local governments buy into the "jobs" argument and the "revenue" argument to justify giving developers their way.

But the fact is that if only 1% of people are fabulously wealthy, then the other 99% of us who struggle to make ends meet are the actual constituency of our civic leaders. Therefore, incentives should be devised and zoning configured not to facilitate building deluxe condos for the wealthy few but in producing so much housing that tenancy rates decrease markedly and housing prices fall significantly.

Then rent control, which really should be called "renter control" (to stave off mass rebellion), will no longer be necessary, and so-called market forces will operate normally. Build lots of housing for everyday people, and the richest 1% will be the ones left scrambling to find something suitable for their needs, not the other way around.

re: "As New York Adds Housing for Poor, Market Subtracts It" (10/15/2009)