The issue isn't just with cost of living. It's also access to capital. My good friend's father is a lawyer. He used his first pay cheque to buy his office building. He know owns a dozen offices and multiple residences. The average lawyer I know, now spends 5-10 years saving a down payment for their first condo. They have no hope of owning office space.
These are lawyers, who earn considerably more than average.
There's a vast shortage of not just residential space, but also commercial and industrial space. It's not just supply and demand causing the issue, it's also zoning. Aging NIMBY types refusing to allow restaurants or other commercial spaces in what they consider to be their personal living environments. Meanwhile there are armies of serfs paying taxes to support the roads and infrastructure necessary for those spaces.
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