I don't know if you keep track of these kinds of stats in your thinking, but the population of the US grows by 1M people per year, even now as a relatively middle aged country. That's 1M people looking for housing, jobs, places to succeed, just as you (I'm guessing, like I) have.
They want housing they can afford, to be built at a cost they can afford, with raw materials and labor they can afford. And they want the career paths and successes and joy in life that the people before have had.
Unless you somehow declare that they can't have access to the same standard of living as you who came before, they're going to be paying for and competing for the same resources in the places that provide the best jobs and futures. And if the lame answer is "well you just got here later than I did" they're going to be very unhappy with it.
There is no "why can't we just keep everything the same". You cannot keep the lid on that boiling pot forever. And that's just the US. Think of the billions of people waiting to join that ladder.
> but the population of the US grows by 1M people per year
If they are all 0 years old, it doesn’t affect housing until about say 20 years later. If they are all immigrants over 20 then it does immediately. Demographics matter. Population growth in 2000 was about 1%, which is a lot more than your current 1 per μ annum figure.
They want housing they can afford, to be built at a cost they can afford, with raw materials and labor they can afford. And they want the career paths and successes and joy in life that the people before have had.
Unless you somehow declare that they can't have access to the same standard of living as you who came before, they're going to be paying for and competing for the same resources in the places that provide the best jobs and futures. And if the lame answer is "well you just got here later than I did" they're going to be very unhappy with it.
There is no "why can't we just keep everything the same". You cannot keep the lid on that boiling pot forever. And that's just the US. Think of the billions of people waiting to join that ladder.