Here Are The Top Five Leftist Cities Running Out of Housing

Leftist cities are facing housing shortages, which is why the Associated Press is reporting that big cities are turning toward tiny 180-300 square foot micro-apartments. Here the top five leftist cities that are facing these severe housing shortages.

1. New York City

The Daily Wire has reported that New York City has more apartments that are $15,000 a month or more, rather than below $2,000 a month; that is, in large part, due to rent controls. Rent controls create housing shortages, which results in politicians de-regulating luxury housing. It’s no wonder that New York City is the featured city in the AP’s story on micro-apartments.

2. San Francisco

TechCrunch reports of San Francisco’s housing crisis “1,500 units per year have been added, while the U.S. Census estimates the city’s population grew by 32,000 people from 2010 to 2013 alone.” Like New York City, San Francisco’s housing market has been plagued by rent controls for many years. This fact goes unmentioned in TechCrunch’s short blurb. San Francisco also has an onerous permitting process that makes it harder to approve new construction of housing, according to Forbes.

3. Los Angeles

The City of Angels has become incredibly expensive to live in. Buzzfeed reported that according to data from Zillow, renters in Los Angeles pay 48.9 percent of their income for rent, the highest of any major U.S. city. Los Angeles residents also spend 40 percent of their income on mortgages, second only to San Francisco among major U.S. cities. Like San Francisco, Los Angeles has not approved enough housing permits to keep up with population growth, and 80 percent of the city is covered by rent control.

4. Seattle

Seattle isn’t that far away from San Francisco in terms of how expensive their housing market is. KIRO TV reports that according to Zillow data, Seattle’s median home price is $481,300, while San Francisco’s is over $1 million. Seattle’s median rent is $1,765, while San Francisco’s is $3,995. KIRO TV describes Seattle’s permitting process as “long and arduous” but not as bad as San Francisco’s. High housing costs are also due to the cost of building parking, as building a stall in a residential parking garage runs roughly $20,000 to $50,000. To deal with their housing shortage, Seattle is also starting to build micro-apartments, although some community members are opposed to their development.

5. Boston

The Boston Globe reports that the city’s housing costs are at “extreme levels”:

That cost has climbed 13 percent over the last decade or so in urban areas, such as Boston and Quincy, and by 30 percent in suburban markets such as Danvers and Stoughton, according to Bluestone.

Meantime, rents for the average two-bedroom apartment in greater Boston are more than $2,600, 7 percent higher in just the last year and a half, and a record despite high levels of construction. Buying a home is no better bargain. The median price of a unit in a classic Boston triple-decker runs $401,398.

The Globe‘s report highlights the high cost of land – and the need to open more land up to development – as well as the onerous process of obtaining a housing permit, to explain Boston’s housing shortage.