Regulatory entry barriers

<p>Licensing, codes, parking minimums, occupancy rules, liquor law, and liability make new low-price third places hard to open and old ones hard to keep simple.</p><p>The claim is about entry and format, not about a conspiracy. A living-room-scale tavern or all-ages rec room that used to be legal or ignored becomes expensive to stand up, so replacement stock is either scarce or forced into a higher-price, higher-control format that is less likely to qualify.</p><p>Fails if permitting time and cost are unrelated to net change in low-price qualifying stock, or if jurisdictions with lighter entry rules show the same decline.</p>