rent control is the band aid applied when landlords gouge in tight vacancy situations. In Berkeley for example, this accompanied a steadfast refusal to allow building new housing thus drastically driving up competition for the existing units. Nothing was done to replace the dozens of residences bulldozed when BART was built. Only now 50 years later are we seeing new apartments/houses going up at BART parking lots. Add the magnet of an elite university, associated cultural and research/technology enterprises, and you get a constantly increasing demand.