After Cambridge, Mass., lifted rent controls on apartments in 1995, the city enjoyed sizable and sustained economic growth. Thousands of wealthier tenants moved into the city -- sparking a construction boom and a renaissance in new restaurants and retail stores, while generating more tax dollars for city coffers.

Average rents went from $500 a month in 1994 under controls to $1,050 in fiscal 1998. Over the same period, building permits rose from 1,488 to 2,100. New housing and construction increased by 50 percent -- with tax revenue from construction permits alone rising almost threefold.

• Nationally, only four states -- New York, New Jersey, Maryland and California -- plus the District of Columbia still have laws on the books that limit the amount of money landlords can charge for an apartment.

• So destructive are rent controls perceived that 31 states have passed laws prohibiting their local communities from even trying to enact them.

• Experts say that even when new construction is exempted from rent controls -- as it had been in Cambridge -- the threat that they may someday be applied puts a chilling effect on new development.

• Critics charge that while rent controls are usually justified in terms of helping the poor, they more often benefit the rich, the smart, the lucky and the well-connected.

In the debate on lifting controls in Cambridge, a compromise was reached that protected low-income families from eviction for up to two years. As it turned out, only 9.4 percent of all tenants were poor enough to qualify.