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Comment by JumpCrisscross | Hacker News Reader

> California's housing crisis benefits existing homeowners, and this group has the greatest sway with legislators

Because they vote. New York renters are a powerful contingent. Because they vote.

A large fraction of California has self-selected out of the political process. That is the root of a lot of its problems.

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Also because they exist. People who would move to CA but don't because of the housing problem can't vote to fix the issue.

To be fair democracy needs some type of locality limit to keep it in the specific sovereignty's influence; US citizens don't get to vote in Canadian politics just because some people in Maine are thinking of moving over to Montreal

Large fraction of renters are foreigners. Around 27% CA population, twice the national average.

If they could vote, they would change this.

2 things that would wreck california here are:

1) restricting immigration (they lose suckers)

2) liberalizing immigration (suckers get bargaining power)

Add "restricting emigration" to the list. If the upper middle class couldn't plan on cashing out their house and leaving for a low CoL area they'd get serious about fixing things.

Or not even that: selling your primary home gives you income tax exemptions!

About two-thirds of the population in NYC rent[0]. Renters in New York are a powerful contingent because they're the majority. Compare that with 45% in the Bay Area as of 2010[1].

[0]https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/data-maps/nyc-population/... [1]http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/bayarea.htm

In immigration-heavy places like the Bay Area, a lot of renters don't have the right to vote.

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