There in fact was a huge drop in rental prices associated with the pandemic that was widely reported on. A massive drop in demand resulted in lower rents, just as the “tHeOrY” would predict. And as the pandemic abated and the city became desirable again, rents returned to their previous highs. Again, as the “tHeOrY” of market forces would predict.

Sure, one solution to the rent problem is to make the city very undesirable, reducing demand. That’s not a very good solution, however.

A much better solution is to simply allow supply to grow. It doesn’t even require a big plan. Just upzone the whole city. Easy shit like rezoning LIC from industrial use to high density residential. It makes everyone better off.