If there are any cities for which this is true, it’s cities like Seattle and Portland. Theoretically, they are not desirable to live in because of COVID, very high crime rates, not idea for working from home, huge public safety problems, etc.
But rent is higher than it has ever been.
The main problem with all those cities is public transportation sucks.
Except the reason people in my social circle would never move to Austin isn’t about guns, it’s about women’s access to quality reproductive care, including abortion.
And I don’t think the democrats are exaggerating the extent to which that is not an option in Texas.
Or maybe your sources are more interested in selling fear than accuracy.
One thing to remember is that sqft != quality of life. I know where to get tons of sqft, but I will be driving an hour every day to even find food. Quality of life... maybe if you never leave the house? ha!
My point is purely logical - the way to get rent down is to either increase supply or decrease demand. If crime, etc gets bad enough, demand will drop and rent with it. The argument you're making (implicitly) is that things haven't yet gotten bad enough for people to move out.