The rent really is too damn high...

[A Black Falcon]

All housing costs are out of control, not only rents.  Rent, new mortgages (because of how insane home prices are in a lot of the country + the higher interest rates now), property taxes keep rising steeply, etc.  The whole system is getting affordable in a lot of the country, requiring more and more money be spent on housing.  It's definitely a bad cycle...