Ezra Klein

It's very hard in San Francisco. You can't look at cities as... Well, that's just where the rich people are. And that's a problem that many Democrats now have. I mean, Michael Bloomberg famously described New York City as a luxury good, and luxury goods cost luxury prices. And that's true in the sense that New York became a luxury good, but that's a problem.

Like, that is a terrible prominent inversion of what the city is. There's this famous advice, possibly apocryphally, from Horace Greeley, who's a kind of early American newspaper publisher and political candidate. But he says, like, go West, young man, go West, right? The opportunity is out in the West where the lands are open. It's never been true, including for him.

Like, that is a terrible prominent inversion of what the city is. There's this famous advice, possibly apocryphally, from Horace Greeley, who's a kind of early American newspaper publisher and political candidate. But he says, like, go West, young man, go West, right? The opportunity is out in the West where the lands are open. It's never been true, including for him.

Like, that is a terrible prominent inversion of what the city is. There's this famous advice, possibly apocryphally, from Horace Greeley, who's a kind of early American newspaper publisher and political candidate. But he says, like, go West, young man, go West, right? The opportunity is out in the West where the lands are open. It's never been true, including for him.

That guy moved from a rural area to New York City. And that's how he became famous. And he ran a newspaper and he ran against Ulysses S. Grant in a presidential election. Right. The cities are the frontier. The cities have always been the frontier, not of the land, but of the economy. Because the frontier of the economy is where ideas are produced.

That guy moved from a rural area to New York City. And that's how he became famous. And he ran a newspaper and he ran against Ulysses S. Grant in a presidential election. Right. The cities are the frontier. The cities have always been the frontier, not of the land, but of the economy. Because the frontier of the economy is where ideas are produced.

That guy moved from a rural area to New York City. And that's how he became famous. And he ran a newspaper and he ran against Ulysses S. Grant in a presidential election. Right. The cities are the frontier. The cities have always been the frontier, not of the land, but of the economy. Because the frontier of the economy is where ideas are produced.

And ideas, even now, even in the age of remote work, are produced in the big cities where people live together. And they compete with each other, and they cooperate with each other. And so if you gate the cities... If you make it impossible for someone making $50,000 with two kids to live in the city, then what you've done is you've actually closed the American frontier.

And ideas, even now, even in the age of remote work, are produced in the big cities where people live together. And they compete with each other, and they cooperate with each other. And so if you gate the cities... If you make it impossible for someone making $50,000 with two kids to live in the city, then what you've done is you've actually closed the American frontier.

And ideas, even now, even in the age of remote work, are produced in the big cities where people live together. And they compete with each other, and they cooperate with each other. And so if you gate the cities... If you make it impossible for someone making $50,000 with two kids to live in the city, then what you've done is you've actually closed the American frontier.

You have forced them into lower productivity places. Their children are less likely to grow up around, you know, the sort of inventors in the cities. There's really amazing research from Raj Chetty and others basically showing that kids, no matter what they are, no matter what income class they're in, they are likelier to grow up innovating and patenting in the innovations of the place around them.

You have forced them into lower productivity places. Their children are less likely to grow up around, you know, the sort of inventors in the cities. There's really amazing research from Raj Chetty and others basically showing that kids, no matter what they are, no matter what income class they're in, they are likelier to grow up innovating and patenting in the innovations of the place around them.

You have forced them into lower productivity places. Their children are less likely to grow up around, you know, the sort of inventors in the cities. There's really amazing research from Raj Chetty and others basically showing that kids, no matter what they are, no matter what income class they're in, they are likelier to grow up innovating and patenting in the innovations of the place around them.

Smart kids don't just grow up and innovate in anything. If they grew up in the Bay Area, they innovate in technology, as Steve Jobs did and Wozniak did, because they just lived around those people. And that is true in many, many, many different things. And so when you gate the cities, it's not, housing is almost too small of a thing for what we're talking about.

Smart kids don't just grow up and innovate in anything. If they grew up in the Bay Area, they innovate in technology, as Steve Jobs did and Wozniak did, because they just lived around those people. And that is true in many, many, many different things. And so when you gate the cities, it's not, housing is almost too small of a thing for what we're talking about.

Smart kids don't just grow up and innovate in anything. If they grew up in the Bay Area, they innovate in technology, as Steve Jobs did and Wozniak did, because they just lived around those people. And that is true in many, many, many different things. And so when you gate the cities, it's not, housing is almost too small of a thing for what we're talking about.

We're talking about if you can live next to economic opportunity. We are talking also about if you can put the people together who will create the next era of economic opportunity. You know, right now, the Bay Area is still in some ways drafting off the back when it was cheap.

We're talking about if you can live next to economic opportunity. We are talking also about if you can put the people together who will create the next era of economic opportunity. You know, right now, the Bay Area is still in some ways drafting off the back when it was cheap.

We're talking about if you can live next to economic opportunity. We are talking also about if you can put the people together who will create the next era of economic opportunity. You know, right now, the Bay Area is still in some ways drafting off the back when it was cheap.

A lot of the people we're talking about who have made amazing things here, they started in the Bay Area when you could afford to live there. It wasn't always like this. And it wasn't that long ago that it wasn't like this. And now, fine, you can go there if you have money or you have a great job offer from Google or Apple or whomever. But over time, you need the ferment.