Understated in these discussions is the role of landlords. In Ithaca, NY, where I live, people's proportion of income going towards housing by some counts surpasses Manhattan and San Francisco. Yes, it's a college town with students already accepting the huge cost of tuition and throwing rent on the debt pile. Yes, the city is hemmed in by a lake to the north and hills to the rest. But there are like three landlords in the entire city. One in particular, Jason Fane, is notorious for jacking up prices on his Ithaca properties as collateral for his investments in China. Meanwhile, Collegetown is becoming increasingly split between obnoxiously priced condos and old houses that look more depressingly decrepit with each passing year.