Stories

"The median rent in California was $747 a month in 2000. Today, it’s over $2,700. Even after adjusting for inflation, rent climbed 44% in real terms, while renter income grew just 11%. The cost of keeping a roof over your head has risen roughly four times faster than renter income," writes Davina Hurt, director, government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

For millions of Californians, that gap is the affordability crisis, says Hurt.

"The moment software starts treating it purely as an asset class to optimize, extracting the maximum a tenant will tolerate, renters lose ground they don’t get back," says Hurt.

Davina Hurt, director, government ethics, published by The Mercury News.