I shared this because the issue is affecting my area as well as SV, and I&#x27;m sure many other areas as well. I live in southeast Alaska, and our housing costs are some of the highest in the country as well. Here it&#x27;s a mix of factors; we live right on the edge of the mountains, next to the ocean, so there&#x27;s a shortage of land that&#x27;s suitable for building. The problem is exacerbated by well-off people buying up large homes that sit vacant in the winter and developing lodges that are only used by tourists during the summer.<p>Just a few days ago there was a heated conversation on our community&#x27;s facebook &quot;chatters&quot; group about how online shopping is hurting our community. Another local business is closing up shop, and people were encouraging others to shop locally whenever possible. &quot;Encouraging&quot; is a kind word; many were chastising anyone who talked about shopping through amazon. One person commented that he had grown up here, and lives on his fishing boat because he can&#x27;t afford to buy a home. He says he buys as much as he can through amazon because it&#x27;s the only way he can make ends meet. This is a guy who catches the &quot;wild caught Alaska salmon&quot; that many people ask for in nicer restaurants, or buy in fish markets like Pike Place in Seattle.<p>Our community is responding in some interesting ways, like helping people figure out how to build small homes that are easier to heat efficiently in the winter. We&#x27;re looking at more efficient ways to use the land that&#x27;s available for building. But all of this might be for nothing in the face of economic disparity; I wonder if we&#x27;ll continue to sort things out, or if it will take a large-scale economic collapse to force the issue. I hope for the former, but I won&#x27;t be surprised by the latter.