<i>&quot;In a free rental market, you would see some current SF residents leave because they&#x27;re not willing to pay market rates, but the market rate would drop as a result. In other words, long time residents would move out to make space for the people who want to move in and are willing to pay for the privilege.&quot;</i><p>So your argument is that the people who <i>can&#x27;t</i> afford the asking price would move out, and the people who <i>can</i> afford that rate would take their place, and the net result would be that market rate would go <i>down</i>? Um.<p>What you <i>mean</i> to say is that market rate would go down for the average <i>new arrival</i>. But why should anyone who <i>already lives here</i> care about that person? Because they work for a startup?