> You raise reasonable points. It seems like a common trend is that housing prices go up anyway due to outside investors buying up property, high income workers moving in and wanting luxury apartments, etc.
Yes. And there will always be something else explaining the rising costs. You ban foreign investors (see: Vancouver)? You get local investment companies buying the properties instead. You start doing rent control? You get tons of dilapidated housing with generational poverty, among other skyrocketing market-based housing.
> Seems like we need to solve the demand part of the puzzle as well. There’s definitely no single easy solution here.
There actually is. Stop trying to make density happen. Instead, promote suburbs and smaller cities. It's as simple as that.
> I don’t think the idea of “just let the population go down” is a reasonable approach.
You don't get other options.
> Especially since it will be poorer people pushed out, even lifelong residents who are displaced by highly paid newcomers.
"Poor people" are the ones suffering from urbanization the most.