My favorite misconception!<p>Here in Ithaca NY, Collegetown used to be a sleepy neighborhood of large divided houses rented to Cornell students.<p>About 20 years ago they began densifying like crazy. 2-3 story houses for 8 people became 8-floor apartments and studios. And you know what?  Rent is higher than ever!  Everywhere!<p>Once you build up you can charge higher rents, which means the landlord next door can charge slightly higher rents, and so on.<p>Building housing almost never lowers rents for the non-rich, unless there is a massive recession (Florida), or an equivalent rise in wages. People build dense housing because they expect people to keep coming...