9/5     Is there really a housing crisis in Berkeley?  From what I've heard,
        the new dorms on College and Durant are empty.
        \_ The bubble will burst.  the landlords will come to their senses
           after not being able to find a renter for, oh, 18 months.
           \_ SF landlords are still dropping rents on places that they
              couldn't rent out for 12+ months.  They're still too high. Given
              SF's draconian rent control board & policies, it isn't too hard
              to figure out they're better off market than renting low.
        \_ We have subsided from the fever pitch of the last few years.
           Berkeley is now roughly at par with the rest of the Bay Area, i.e.,
           it is still about one and half times as expensive as, say, Seattle.
           Whether you want to say that means there is no crisis is your call.
           A great many Low Income households (<80% of median household income)
           are paying >30% of their AGI for housing, which is the fed and state
           criterion for affordable housing shortage. -- ulysses
           \_ this is orthogonal to your point, but seattle is getting
              worse. from the anecdotes i've heard from folks who lived
              there recently, i doubt it's 1.5 times cheaper than the BA.
                \_ right now seattle is FUCKED as far as the job market goes.
                   It makes the BA look good.  Housing is really dropping
                   because of that.
        \_ There is no waiting list for housing this year.  -tom
        \_ No wait list = no crisis.  Sounds more like a landlord's vacancy
           crisis to me.  Anyone know what the coop's vacancy rate is?
           \_ Coops are still building new housing.
              \_ That doesn't say anything about the vacancy rate.
                 \_ Tell us what the vacancy rate is then master of the obvious.
                    \_ Duh!  That's what I've been asking for 2 days!
                       \_ The phone number is (510) 848-1936. Try calling them.
        \_ I am renting a room in a three-bedroom house in Berkeley. The house
           is pretty nice (although, a bit far away from campus). After
           the lanlord jacked up the price from $450 to $600, my other
           roommates moved out in march and no one has moved in since then.
           I now have a three bedroom house all for myself, muahahaha ..
           \_ Can I move in?
           \_ The landlord didn't try to stick you with the whole house?
              \_ And risk losing his last tenant?
                 \_ Shrug.  I didn't say it was smart.  I only asked.
                 \_ I'm sure he could re-rent it for more than $600. What's
                    the catch? --dim
                    \_ You have to sleep with his wife the Russian ex-olympic
                       swimmer.  Just ignore the beard and broad shoulders.
                       \_ what russian swimmers are there?
                       \_ I thought the (East) Germans were more notorious
                          for that sort of thing? -Jon
                          \_ It was a wide spread soviet victim problem.
                       \_ Why doesn't he get a new Russian mail-order bride?