And money invested in land does not circulate, it just locks up capital until the property owner (probably an anonymous LLC) finally decides to sell. Then the new property owner steps in to lock up new capital or debt obligation into the same land. And if an LLC owner, that land may never “sell” for generations.

When we add density to neighborhoods (taller buildings, shorter setbacks, more units), we make the land more valuable because greater density means more developed square footage per acre to sell to investors.

The problem of overvalued land plagues cities across the world. City leaders are starting to pushback creatively.

Berlin is one city considering real disincentives to discourage investment interest in its real estate, including multi-year rent freezes and expropriations that would cap the number of apartments a single corporation could own. Government would buy back from corporate landlords the apartments owned above the threshold maximum and repurpose for public housing use: https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5caf1d7de4b0308735d59712

There are critics of both ideas, of course, but public enthusiasm to limit corporate ownership of housing runs high.

I disagree. I see these Cupertino Council Members standing against extraction capitalism in local real estate markets.

Commercial real estate investors will never build enough affordable housing. Affordable housing is not supportive of their business model.

For-profit real estate developers will build too many very tall, very expensive buildings with tiny micro units that almost no one (except investors) want.

We are long overdue for public investment, public ownership in safe, sustainable housing that families and individuals of modest means can afford.

“Streamlining” laws that exist to maximize for-profit investment in California real estate—such as AB 2345 and many others—do little more than socialize the costs of private real estate investment. If the public is going pay for housing (through entitlements or infrastructure waivers), it should own the housing and the property and hold onto both for public benefit for years to come.

And do pay attention to The Shift (https://www.make-the-shift.org) and the recognition of the Housing Is a Human Right movement. The need to separate housing from extractive capital investment only grows.

Cupertino is among a growing group of communities rejecting heavy-handed authoritarianism from the State Legislature.

Local legislators who push back against State control of local land use:

https://localcontrolca.com/documents/Supporters-List.pdf

Pushback against State control of land use from residents in another Bay Area community:

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/opinion/guest_perspectives/owning-a-home-does-not-make-you-racist-elitists/article_b28eebec-b386-11eb-b0ee-8f488b27012e.html

Housing Is a Human Right (not a commodity to be leveraged for the financial benefit of the fewest):

https://www.make-the-shift.org

It is past time to prohibit “super-majorities” in our government.

The stinking legislature wants everyone to be dependent upon their piss-poor decisions.

Feng did her spineless City Council a favor.

Recall Newsom with extreme prejudice!

David S. Wall

Meanwhile, the department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) seems to serve to bully communities for no good reason except that they can.

It would be a waste to sacrifice the City Manager over a failure to jump because a bully yelled “Jump!”.