In this, rent behaves not unlike the bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild or the tailored Brioni suit: the value is not inherent, but projected. To pay $4,000 a month for a one-bedroom apartment is to make a public offering at the altar of the city's gods — not of necessity, but of prestige. The emptier the wallet, the greater the perceived sacrifice. The more ruinous the cost, the more sacred the ground.

In the end, the city's landlords are not mere sellers of shelter. They are priests administering rites. The lease is a sacrament. The security deposit, a tithe. The eviction notice, a falling from grace.

There is no correcting this by building "more units" or "increasing affordability." You cannot simply add abundance and expect the spell to break. You would have better luck telling an ambitious man that more plastic watches will cure him of wanting a Rolex.

Rent, or Housing, like all modern Veblen goods, is a mirror held up to a dying culture, and the image it reflects is proud, desperate, and exquisitely willing to suffer.

(Note: This post is my opinion and I don't state it as fact)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5717129&forum_id=2...id.#48884981)