'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed • Hacker News Board

Re: 'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed

#11

Post by traderjane » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 10:08 AM UTC

henrikschroder wrote: post #5

traderjane wrote: post #2

Why is it that despite high housing prices everywhere in the tech region, homelessness appears acutely concentrated in SF?

Because solutions that work (Free mental health care, free housing, more social workers) are not palatable to the people who live there, despite the city having more than enough money to actually pay for those solutions. So an endless parade of soup kitchens it is.

It's hard to imagine surrounding cities are different because of free mental health care, free housing, and more social service support for homelessness.

Re: 'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed

#12

Post by mschuster91 » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 10:08 AM UTC

cribbles wrote: post #9

>A million-plus for a home with $300,000 down? Then when we have kids, $30,000 a year for private school? This quote totally confounded me. Why is it a given that their kids have to go to private school? If you're optimizing your budget for home-ownership, why not just send your kids to the schools your taxes are paying for?

> why not just send your kids to the schools your taxes are paying for?

Because thanks to massive underfunding US public education is ... not exactly what one can expect from a first world country. In some areas children actually only have four days of school because of underfunding (http://www.ladbible.com/news/news-school-switches-to-four-da...).

Re: 'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed

#13

Post by brokenkebab » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 10:09 AM UTC

It's hilarious to read all these militaristic wordings about techies waging "battles", and "conquering" the city, as if it's about barbarian hordes which came down on peaceful SF, pillaged, raped, and burnt everything to the ground. Sure, why scritinize California's, or the city's political theater, why questioning law enforcement inefficiency. Can it be somehow related to drugs, prostitution, and theft? No, it's all software developers' fault.

Re: 'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed

#14

Post by drdrey » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 10:10 AM UTC

traderjane wrote: post #2

Why is it that despite high housing prices everywhere in the tech region, homelessness appears acutely concentrated in SF?

There are also plenty of homeless makeshift camps in San Jose. In parks, alongs highways, underpasses, near creeks...

Re: 'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed

#15

Post by golergka » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 10:11 AM UTC

traderjane wrote: post #2

Why is it that despite high housing prices everywhere in the tech region, homelessness appears acutely concentrated in SF?

Because SF treats homeless better and has much more services for them, and (being homeless) they are very mobile.

Re: 'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed

#16

Post by huffmsa » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 10:12 AM UTC

huffmsa wrote: post #4

traderjane wrote: post #2

Why is it that despite high housing prices everywhere in the tech region, homelessness appears acutely concentrated in SF?

Versus the outlying suburbia? Because it's harder to get around in suburbia. Cities are easier to walk / ride your bike around and you're just a face in the crowd. People notice you if you're camped out in a suburban shopping mall.

Or versus another city, it's the weather. Never hot enough to turn you into jerky, never cold enough to turn you into a popsicle.

Since piles of people dead from exposure isn't a risk, the city doesn't have the same motivation to build shelters like a New York does, so they kick it to the side.

The citizenry gets concerned with poop on the street, but once it's bodies, they really expect the government to do something.

Re: 'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed

#17

Post by mehrdadn » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 10:15 AM UTC

mschuster91 wrote: post #12

cribbles wrote: post #9

>A million-plus for a home with $300,000 down? Then when we have kids, $30,000 a year for private school? This quote totally confounded me. Why is it a given that their kids have to go to private school? If you're optimizing your budget for home-ownership, why not just send your kids to the schools your taxes are paying for?

> why not just send your kids to the schools your taxes are paying for? Because thanks to massive underfunding US public education is ... not exactly what one can expect from a first world country. In some areas children actually only have four days of school because of underfunding ( http://www.ladbible.com/news/news-school-switches-to-four-da... ).

Is this actually the case in SF though?

Re: 'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed

#18

Post by q3k » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 10:20 AM UTC

chvid wrote: post #7

I find it amazing that "locals" can get away with blaming "tech workers" for rising rents and homelessness. The rents and the house prices only rise because the wealth that the workers generate is blocked from being used to build new houses.

Really? Only because of that? No other reason?

Re: 'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed

#19

Post by quickthrower2 » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 10:23 AM UTC

traderjane wrote: post #2

Why is it that despite high housing prices everywhere in the tech region, homelessness appears acutely concentrated in SF?

In my city if I were homeless I'd want to be central not in the suburbs. There are better services for homeless, more other homeless people to blend in with, opportunities to beg, places to find shelter etc.

Re: 'We all suffer': why San Francisco techies hate the city they transformed

#20

Post by henrikschroder » Mon, Jul 01, 2019, 10:24 AM UTC

traderjane wrote: post #11

henrikschroder wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because solutions that work (Free mental health care, free housing, more social workers) are not palatable to the people who live there, despite the city having more than enough money to actually pay for those solutions. So an endless parade of soup kitchens it is.

It's hard to imagine surrounding cities are different because of free mental health care, free housing, and more social service support for homelessness.

Homelessness is not a problem that affects all cities alike.

It's not the case that Daly City, Mountain View, Pleasanton etc, have all solved the problem without telling SF how to do it. In reality, the surrounding cities simply don't have the problem for various reasons and environmental factors, so they don't need to solve the problem in the first place.