At those prices it might make sense to fly out workers from the Midwest and house them.
Get this. If the average rent is north of $3k/month for a 1bd. And the average house costs $3.7m. Where is a ski lift worker making minimum wage supposed to live? Or the person running the only local gas station? Or the food service workers? They can’t live outside of these towns because the prices are still within 50% of the prices above. It’s just entirely unsustainable.
Now take this and apply it to larger cities, where even teachers making $50-$80k/yr can’t afford to live within an hour commute.
I’m all for a free market, but at some point you need to protect critical workers, and the only way I can think to do that is through rent control and special housing programs. Most places have neither unless you’re borderline homeless poor. Middle class continues to be gutted.
This is a part of the problem. Rent control is such a half assed solution that makes everything illiquid and worse for anyone not already locked into a good deal. It's similar to the deal that incumbents have in ownership. Look at SF. Rent control or not, you will have to pay 3k+ for a 1 BR in a 100 year old building with no appliances, poor heat, and no parking. Only people who have been living in rent controlled apartments for their whole lives have a good deal. It doesn't facilitate liquidity at all.
Rent control breaks the market and subsidies pour fuel on the dumpster fire. There is exactly one good way out and it's making it easier to build.
Could we have avoided this problem by building housing while labor could still afford it? Sure. But we didn't, and now we reap what we sow.