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'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

theguardian.com

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Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#101

Post by piva00 »

mstade wrote: post #75
saintPirelli wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No way. Europe's Silicon Valley will establish in Eastern Europe, where living is cheaper and governments are more willing to ease up on regulations to accomodate the flexible start-up employer-employee relationships. Warsaw, Sophia, Tallinn, those are the spots to keep an eye out for.

Speaking of Estonia, I was at their embassy in Stockholm last fall and they were pushing hard for Tallinn as the next European capital of tech. Nearly every conversation you had with them, regardless of topic, would somehow gravitate toward how great Estonia is to set up a tech shop. Whether because of cheap real estate or the quality of their work force, or the prevalence of craft beer – it was all just a great plac…

Honestly speaking, Tallinn is a boring place. Might be good for business but I don't see it as attractive for people willing to move, maybe in the short-term for a job but it's not a place I'd see many settling in.

Go visit it anyway, that's, of course, just my impression, but even living in Stockholm (a place I consider a bit boring for my standards of big city life) I found Tallinn very very dull.

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#102

Post by marijn »

tnolet wrote: post #38

I live in this neighbourhood and my office is on the same street, one block from the new campus. The area is nice and lively, so I get people want an office there (hell, I did the same!). But Google has the means to positively impact the less hip, more strugling parts of Berlin. I bet people would welcome them with open arms in Marzhan or Wedding.

Since most people in those neighborhoods are already suffering under increasing rent prices, I really doubt many of them would be happy to have another gentrifying influence near them.

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#103

Post by skgoa »

mhomde wrote: post #9

I think Berlins "Poor but happy" times are fast coming to an end. Rents have been rising quickly the last few years and tech companies and startups becoming more prevalent. Heck, Neukölln went from being a cheap alternative to being as trendy and expensive as Kreuzberg. Berlin kinda, from what I understand, enjoyed it's special culture much because it wasn't an industrial city and lacked an large international airpor…

The quickest growing software cluster in Europe is Dresden, though.

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#104

Post by jpla »

aestetix wrote: post #58
uhnuhnuhn wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Berlin housing crisis is very much happening almost everywhere. City-wide average rents increased 45% between 2009-2015. Rents doubled in some districts in that timeframe and even in the least affected areas (Marzahn and Spandau) rents increased by more than 30%.

I'd argue that's a reflection on what I said before (prices normalizing from dirt-cheap). I do not consider these numbers a crisis at all. Here is an example of why the Bay Area is in a crisis: https://abcnews.go.com/US/san-francisco-resident-fights-sudd... A San Francisco man had his rent increased from $1800 a month to $8000 a month. True, it is one of the more extreme examples, but this is what I would call a cris…

The situation are a bit different though. The Bay Area is competitive despite its housing market, while Berlin to a large extent is competitive because of its housing market. If rents become similar to other major European cities Berlin will lose a lot of its appeal and potential compared to those other cities.

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#106

Post by jpatokal »

jpla wrote: post #104
aestetix wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue that's a reflection on what I said before (prices normalizing from dirt-cheap). I do not consider these numbers a crisis at all. Here is an example of why the Bay Area is in a crisis: https://abcnews.go.com/US/san-francisco-resident-fights-sudd... A San Francisco man had his rent increased from $1800 a month to $8000 a month. True, it is one of the more extreme examples, but this is what I would call a cris…

The situation are a bit different though. The Bay Area is competitive despite its housing market, while Berlin to a large extent is competitive because of its housing market. If rents become similar to other major European cities Berlin will lose a lot of its appeal and potential compared to those other cities.

Silicon Valley became what it is today because there was cheap industrial land for chip fabs and random startups.

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#107

Post by keiferski »

Jommi wrote: post #98
saintPirelli wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better schools for your kids, safer cities, better public transport, more and better maintained parks, better local produce. There are a lot of potential reasons for a decision like that.

You really think Eastern Europe ranks highly in those values?

Compared to most American cities? Absolutely. The quality of life in Warsaw on $1,500 a month is vastly better than ~$4,000 a month in SV.

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#108

Post by alexcnwy »

mhomde wrote: post #9

I think Berlins "Poor but happy" times are fast coming to an end. Rents have been rising quickly the last few years and tech companies and startups becoming more prevalent. Heck, Neukölln went from being a cheap alternative to being as trendy and expensive as Kreuzberg. Berlin kinda, from what I understand, enjoyed it's special culture much because it wasn't an industrial city and lacked an large international airpor…

Dresden and Budapest much better options nearby :)

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#109

Post by jpatokal »

One important thing that's not at all clear from the article: this is not a campus for Google employees a la Googleplex, but a capital-C Campus run by Google for Entrepreneurs, meaning basically a coworking space/startup incubator that happens to be run by Google. So even if it's built, the people working there won't be Googlers, but random startup people in Berlin.

https://www.googleforentrepreneurs.com/campuses/

Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant

#110

Post by sveme »

hknd wrote: post #51
LifeLiverTransp wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Mark my words, Berlin will be Europe's Silicon Valley within a few years. It might happen- but it still wont have an airport.

Munich is still the city with the most IT jobs and companies - I don't know if Berlin will catch up. Berlin has this start-up flare image, but based on numbers that's just not true.

I agree on Munich - and most of its startups are in tough topics involving hardware such as robotics, IoT etc. Still believe that engineering B2B is a better fit for a startup company in Germany than the often B2C model in silicon valley.
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