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‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

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Re: ‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

#21
post #2

Adding to the problem, the NIMBYs everywhere mean that no one builds new RV parks anywhere and the extant RV parks ramp up rents and regulations (your RV has to less than 10 years old) to push out the lower income people. This exact thing happened to me in Austin.

I hear the same argument on this site every time poverty and homelessness in Silicon Valley is brought up, but I really don't understand it. Massive capital concentration is leading to only a few cities in the country experiencing economic growth, and your solution is to just build more housing in those few areas? Why not do something about the capital concentration? Why not do something to push some of those jobs in…

Massive capital concentration is one of the reasons the valley, SF, and to a lesser extent Seattle, Austin, and New York, are creating so much.

Capital concentration leads to higher pay, which leads to smart people coming, which leads to cool products, which leads to an increase in the economic productivity of a society.

I don't see why anybody should "push" jobs away. That would make both the jobs and their employers less desirable.

There are few instances where central government control of economic allocation led to innovation. Even China and Singapore generally is pretty laissez faire about who does what where. It's not like the Korean government is trying to push industry out of Seoul, even though real estate there is insane.

Free markets created the Bay Area and SF (arguably the lack of enforcement of non-competes did), but that's another example of the government backing off. It's not like Communist Russia was a hotbed of innovation.

Re: ‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

#22
post #17

Part of me is empathetic with this whole story, obviously. But another part of me finds it strange that there is such a huge emphasis on the homelessness situation in SF. It's as if we're only paying attention to this because of the huge inequality density in the city. But the truth is, homelessness is a problem everywhere. It just doesn't feel like an efficient (from a utilitarian perspective) use of resources to fo…

> It's as if we mostly care about reducing the visual appearance of the problem There are real public health consequences to high concentrations of people living without proper sanitation -- see the ongoing, major hepatitis outbreak in San Diego, for instance.

So it's only an issue when the public health of the rich is at risk? Because it seems to me that's what your comment is implying.

Re: ‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

#23

In my town, not Silicon Valley, the biggest complaint about new buildings is the increase in traffic. Traffic in my area is already horrendous. I do think some NIMBYs would be less NIMBY if improvements in transportation took place at the same time as new buildings.

Part of the problem is the horribly messed up development patterns the US has embraced over the last 70 years

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/1/7/americas-suburb...

Re: ‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

#24

There are easier locations to live on $15/hr in California and the USA than Silicon Valley. Some of the people featured in the article have vehicles which implies mobility. I wish the article focused more on the reasons people choose to stay in a place with a ridiculous cost of living that they can't afford. That seems like the real story to me. I'm sure there are valid reasons like family or other things but it's no…

Jobs are hard to get by in cheaper places, even if the hourly wage is $15.

Re: ‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear the same argument on this site every time poverty and homelessness in Silicon Valley is brought up, but I really don't understand it. Massive capital concentration is leading to only a few cities in the country experiencing economic growth, and your solution is to just build more housing in those few areas? Why not do something about the capital concentration? Why not do something to push some of those jobs in…

Massive capital concentration is one of the reasons the valley, SF, and to a lesser extent Seattle, Austin, and New York, are creating so much. Capital concentration leads to higher pay, which leads to smart people coming, which leads to cool products, which leads to an increase in the economic productivity of a society. I don't see why anybody should "push" jobs away. That would make both the jobs and their employer…

The issue with this is that it's going to create massive political instability if there are a few megacities with massive poverty in every other state. There are already signs that our political system is already destabilizing. What makes you think this wouldn't amplify that?

Re: ‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

#26
post #18

There are easier locations to live on $15/hr in California and the USA than Silicon Valley. Some of the people featured in the article have vehicles which implies mobility. I wish the article focused more on the reasons people choose to stay in a place with a ridiculous cost of living that they can't afford. That seems like the real story to me. I'm sure there are valid reasons like family or other things but it's no…

Those locations don’t pay $15/hr. if you can find a job, and you probably can’t. Employment is rising in densely populated areas and not so much in rural areas. This is a little different on the east coast, but that’s a more significant moving investment. Other services like healthcare in rural areas has eroded to barely existent. I can speak from experience in Oregon. Moving costs money, something they don’t have. F…

Cities that aren't on the coasts exist, you know. $15/hr jobs in Midwestern cities aren't outlandish by any stretch.

Re: ‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

#27

There are easier locations to live on $15/hr in California and the USA than Silicon Valley. Some of the people featured in the article have vehicles which implies mobility. I wish the article focused more on the reasons people choose to stay in a place with a ridiculous cost of living that they can't afford. That seems like the real story to me. I'm sure there are valid reasons like family or other things but it's no…

But here's the thing: SV still needs 7-11 clerks, still needs fast food workers, still needs coffee baristas, and still needs all of those lower income positions. Automation is nowhere near eliminating all of those positions yet. So if all those people left, where would those businesses hire from?

Re: ‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

#28

There are easier locations to live on $15/hr in California and the USA than Silicon Valley. Some of the people featured in the article have vehicles which implies mobility. I wish the article focused more on the reasons people choose to stay in a place with a ridiculous cost of living that they can't afford. That seems like the real story to me. I'm sure there are valid reasons like family or other things but it's no…

Maybe it's hard for them to find work outside of the area and they are living paycheck to paycheck. So any gap in employment would sink them.

It's hard to get out of an area when you're economically distressed. Cutting that tiny lifeline is a massive risk. This is the same problem keeping poor rural people stuck in poor rural areas.

Re: ‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

#29
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those locations don’t pay $15/hr. if you can find a job, and you probably can’t. Employment is rising in densely populated areas and not so much in rural areas. This is a little different on the east coast, but that’s a more significant moving investment. Other services like healthcare in rural areas has eroded to barely existent. I can speak from experience in Oregon. Moving costs money, something they don’t have. F…

Cities that aren't on the coasts exist, you know. $15/hr jobs in Midwestern cities aren't outlandish by any stretch.

We're talking about someone who's struggling to get by in SV. Where are they going to get the money to move their family to the Midwest?

Re: ‘I lost everything:’ Homelessness surges in Silicon Valley

#30
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cities that aren't on the coasts exist, you know. $15/hr jobs in Midwestern cities aren't outlandish by any stretch.

We're talking about someone who's struggling to get by in SV. Where are they going to get the money to move their family to the Midwest?

This is true, but it is also not not the point I am addressing.
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