"This has a limit, namely, that we who move in are going to vote to change things, and the only way bay area property owners can prevent that is to not get rich

"This has a limit, namely, that we who move in are going to vote to change things, and the only way bay area property owners can prevent that is to not get rich off their property by selling or renting it at sky-high prices to new residents." This argument the two of you are engaged in would be more interesting and relevant, I think, if there were not a literal 50% off sale every 7-10 years in the bay area. The busts will continue to come and the more you think "it's different this time" the closer we are to one. Conversely, I'll bet I could pick up print publications in the alternative press from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s wherein the same lamentations and accusations are leveled during the run-up to each peak. I quote the lead article from the OP: "... helplessness pervades many of my conversations with friends in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I lived for seven years ..."