California Approves Statewide Rent Control

Just curious how the success of such a measure might be evaluated? Or is this pure theatre?

The real solution here is to build more housing, as high prices are a market signal of a shortage. While I support more unit creation more than I support rent control, in the current crises we need both. What I still can't get over is how much of CA land use politics is pure generational warfare, the olds vs the millennials, and it seems that the millennials are finally starting to win some fights.

Ah, because it worked so well in SF to ease housing prices! So why don't we expand the program?

Will never cease to amaze me just now inept politicians are.

"... there could be a big effect in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods like Boyle Heights in Los Angeles, where typical rents on apartments not covered by the city’s rent regulations have jumped more than 40 percent since 2016."

A deceleration in rental inflation in neighborhoods such as the above? A reduction in newly homeless populations?

To be clear, this is a 20 year old article, the literature on rent control has changed a lot since this was written. Basic economic consensus rn seems to be that rent control is a poor long term solution to rising housing costs but a necessary short term solution as the required supply shock wouldn't even be able to happen in the near term even if regulatory barriers are eased due to labor, construction, and land costs in expensive metros and that the anticipated negative impacts of rent control (less liquidity in rental market, higher prices) dwarfed by the impact of lack of supply.