Everyone's first inclination is to raise the minimum wage (which I am not against). But let's not dismiss the fact that we could also work on lowering the cost of rents.<p>I used to think that rents are simply a function of supply and demand, but recently I realized that there's also a floor for rental prices regardless of the demand. That floor is a function of the cost of buying a house, property tax, and the opportunity cost (eg: stock market will give me an ROI of X, so real estate has to be within that range or I'll just move my assets accordingly).<p>I am only familiar with the SF market so the rest of the country might be totally different, but having looked into buying a house there I can totally understand why the floor for rental prices is as high as it is. The property tax is 1.2%, and good luck with buying something under a million dollars where you can expect to attract people with steady income. Last but not least, if we're really going to compare this investment with the stock market, then I shouldn't be expected to worry about water leaks and clogged toilets, so we should also include the cost of a property manager. In short, no thank you.<p>Raising the minimum wage would lead to higher prices, lower sales volume and lower sales tax. Is it possible to take that same budget and instead make more land available for development, lower the property tax, and make other moves to make home ownership more attractive? That should also lower the cost of rents.