California's Vanished Dream, by the Numbers

I just don't understand why cities in California won't let go of single unit zoning.

Single unit is the most expensive and least efficient zoning rule. Getting rid of it would bring housing costs down.

Ever visit a beautiful city like Paris, Copenhagen, Milan and wonder why we don't have that? It would be illegal to make the buildings they have under our zoning code and parking mandates!

>Getting rid of it would bring housing costs down.

You answered your own question. Housing costs coming down is a good thing for people who need housing, but it's not really a good thing for people who own valuable homes, and people who own valuable homes tend to have much more political power.

> San Francisco, meanwhile, suffers the highest property crime rate in the country. Businesses like Walgreens have shut down numerous Bay Area locations due to “rampant burglaries.”

Hasn't the "we're shutting down this Walgreens because of rampant burglaries" been repeatedly debunked?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/is-shoplifting-forcing-wal...

Among myriad of issues, one is that the tax rates for the very rich are not high enough.

And the absolute parrallel there is - people probably wouldn't feel their money is being spent effectively.

I really do feel that rich Californians would accept higher taxes if the money was really well spent.

Impossible to talk about is the 'low end' - where you have (and bringing in) people in very, very low skilled and economic classes even on a global scale, who really can't 'participate' in the regular economy to legitimize a solid minimum wage.

And so you get 1M people working 'under the table' where the supply/demand bears a low price.

It might be heartless to hear, but consider that it may be far more efficient to have US companies invest in developing Mexico, and have those people have wage jobs there that provide them a modicum of dignity - as opposed to coming to Cali and being jammed into the 'bottom'.

The 'cartels' (very complicated issue) is an example of how, systematically everything gets oppressed.

Cali has never been about 'equality' (i.e. communitarian, hard work, self discipline, charitable giving, good governance, responsible social spending, community cohesion aka Sweden) more like the 'dreamy feeling of equality' where if everyone just 'pursues their thing and acts kind it will all work out'.

Throw in a national crisis in healthcare and housing and you have your mess.

It takes everything: taxes need to be a bit more for the rich, schools need to be a bit rigorous, parents need to parent, the border needs to be responsibly managed, need to have intervention in healthcare pricing, police need to act fairly and appropriately, city councils need to stop being corrupt, DA needs to stop being populist, don't elect a 'pretty playboy' to lead government instead elect rationalists who are competent and can lead, we cannot allow petty crime to go unheeded, we cannot allow absolute poverty to go unheeded, we cannot allow corporate corruption to go unheeded, we cannot allow government inefficiency to go unheeded. People need to stop being dreamy and delusional and ideological on all fronts. 'TED Talk' thinking does not solve any problems, it misleads us to thinking there is an idea, or a technology that can change - I say rubbish, we need to be responsible and conscientious on all fronts, that's what makes civilization.

I strongly urge you to just stand in an SF Walgreens and watch how many people walk out the door with stolen goods. None of those incidents are reported, the security guards don't even bother getting up.