I have no problem with this point of view. Highrises will likely ruin the beauty and quaintness of some of SF&#x27;s neighborhoods in an irrevertable way. There&#x27;s also zero chance that average rental prices would go down in the short term, if ever: the market is too lucrative and there are plenty of rich people to fill all available slots. On the other hand, if there&#x27;s little new development, maybe people would finally leave SF alone after a while and go somewhere else. (Or if the tech bubble bursts again.)<p>I think what these people mean is not that SF belongs to the rich, but that arrogant startup kids have no right to reshape a city that&#x27;s been theirs for decades, just because said kids really, really want to live there.<p>I&#x27;ve been to many cities around the world that are practically defined by their lovely architecture, their comfortable streets, and their astounding views. Were I living in one of those cities during a tech boom, I would fight tooth and nail to prevent ugly highrises from taking over the skyline.<p>There&#x27;s no ethical mandate to permanently keep growing.<p>(Caveat: I don&#x27;t actually like SF all that much, but I totally understand where this mindset comes from.)