No, you're not. You're only trapped by your own insistence on living in that particular neighborhood in SF. I don't see why you think because you've become comfortable somewhere you're entitled to stay there forever.
>I'm pretty sure that it's not me that's running up a tab.
Yes it is. The value of what you're consuming has gone up, but you've used the government to force your landlord to provide you a place for less than its' worth.
One can make a pretty compelling argument that others in the city have very effectively used the government to make the value of their places far, far higher than their actual worth.
There are many things rotten in the market, and that includes rent control.
[0] Prop 13 means that property tax increases max out at 2% per year, rather than never increasing. Coincidentally, my rent controlled rent has increased by 2% per year for the past several years.
I am. Over the past five years "my" apartment building has changed hands several times. The current landlord is a large company who actively attempts to remove long-term tenants, frequently neglects legally-required upkeep and maintenance and actively attempts to suppress tenants' attempts to organize.
In a reasonable market, this landlord would not be permitted to act as a slumlord; his rooms would remain empty, and his reputation would catch up with him. He can only behave this way because city wages don't track city rents.
The city's failure to build housing to meet demand has trapped a not-insubstantial slice of its population in substandard conditions.
> ...you're forcing someone else to pick up your tab...
Last I checked, the cost of durable goods and competent labor hadn't more tripled over the past five years. This is to say that the cost of renting a room in a building in SF has far outstripped the actual cost of running that same building in SF over the past five years.
I'm pretty sure that it's not me that's running up a tab.
It's abundantly clear that there's something rotten in the market, and that it's not rent control. :)