Be honest, if I had titled this entry, "Rent Control" would you have even clicked on it?

Yes, today's topic is rent control, and yes, Alex, I have phrased my entry in the form of a question. ("Alex, I will take boring topics on Jay's blog for $100.")

Is rent control:

(a) A misguided and distorted approach with unintended negative consequences--like landlords barely ever doing maintenance or upgrades, and the proverbial couple with two new BMW's living in a rent controlled unit; or

(b) The best way to ensure that people like teachers, police officers, and firefighters can stay in or become a part of the fabric of the community they serve, (not to mention senior citizens and students) when there is no way their income would otherwise allow them to live in the community; or

(c) The WORST way to accomplish the objective in (b) except for ALL other ways. (This is derived from the old quote about democracy--that it is the worst political system in the world except for all the other systems); or

(d) You tell me.

FYI for the out-of-CA folks: This is slightly more than idle chatter--today is Election Day in California and among other things, there is a proposition that would essentially end rent control. The side story is that folks who want to end rent control created a proposition about eminent domain that they felt would pass easily, and added the anti-rent control language as sort of a tag-along. Then the pro-rent control folks created their own eminent domain proposition, sans rent control language.

But instead of arguing about proposition shenanigans, I would be interested in what anyone has to say about the concept of rent control.