To be fair NYC has taken the opposite approach and rents are extremely high there as well

Nah, watch this if you have time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpK5HiCKfgU

At least watch this money shot: https://youtu.be/kpK5HiCKfgU?si=YNQBxsn15NxGdQQ0&t=272 (wait for the video to reveal the construction years)

As Max Fisher puts it: American cities have been frozen in amber.