>But those “people” who are willing to pay arent people actually from Richmond

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nativism is gross.

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>There’s clearly been a huge onset of gentrification fueled by greed and opportunity in the last few years

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people want to live near urban amenities. the city makes it hard to build housing. so the price goes up. moralizing about greed is stupid because even if people were super altruistic, the price would still go up by the same amount because people would still be bidding the rents.

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>and when that isn’t matched with meaningful improvements to the life of the people that actually live in the area it’s affecting, it should be noted as an issue.

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of course its an issue. we have this huge influx in investment, but without a corresponding output in housing. and its not because we lack a supply of wood, copper, drywall and concrete.

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>Anyone that’s lived in Richmond a meaningful amount of time i.e 4+ years can see what’s happening to the city

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been here about a decade. houses in my neighborhood have nearly doubled in price, but the city has kept the supply of homes capped at the same amount since its inception even though everybody has enough space to build 3 houses per lot, or a 4plex in every backyard, or each lot is big enough for townhome/shotgun style, or literally anything in the spectrum of the missing middle.

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the problem is zoning. there is no reason why my neighborhood should have supply of housing fixed by policy when the prices are telling people to build.