And when developers are allowed to build for the whole market, they will build first for the top... and then for everyone else once the high end is exhausted. The demand there is not infinite. It's not even close to infinite.
It only seems that way sometimes in SF because there is literal decades of pent-up demand that needs to be satisfied, resulting in people willing to pay quite high prices.
>The demand there is not infinite. It's not even close to infinite.
Neither is the supply of land.
The question is, can San Francisco build enough to satisfy this demand, without replacing so much of the existing housing stock that San Francisco doesn't look like San Francisco any more? I don't know. And maybe it's not important. Cities do evolve, after all.
But I do think the question needs to be asked, and debated.
The question is old. It's been asked. It's been debated. Both question and debate were old when both of us were young.
The answer is: yes. The heart of San Francisco lives not in a brick or a stone or a board, but in the hearts of San Franciscans. Gold in peace, iron in war.
It only seems that way sometimes in SF because there is literal decades of pent-up demand that needs to be satisfied, resulting in people willing to pay quite high prices.