Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

sfchronicle.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 388 posts

Re: Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

#131

Post by CapstanRoller »

justinzollars wrote: post #121
slg wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Personal politics, IMO, is not a good reason to avoid living in certain areas. I'm a liberal-leaning moderate but many of my favorite people (friends and family) are conservative, and many of my hobbies tend to be populated mainly by the conservative demographic. This is a comment that originates in privilege. The concern for many people is not simply that they would have to be friends with conservative people. The…

This is a very preachy church lady like response.

It's only "preachy" if acknowledging the harsh reality faced by repressed minorities makes you feel uncomfortable.

Re: Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

#132

Post by Dig1t »

jjoonathan wrote: post #16
eppp wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What on earth are you talking about?

Well, if you assume California is socialist it all makes sense. There's just one tiny little problem: it isn't, and not only is this office space privately owned but the problems causing these vacancies are probably principal agent problems directly attributable to the structure of the free market controlling them (landlords either want to bet on a recovery or agreed to credit terms that would cascade a single write-…

>directly attributable to the structure of the free market controlling them

This is completely wrong, city zoning does not allow commercial buildings to be used for housing. Local government literally has direct control of the allowed uses for buildings. Additionally, even if you completely got rid of zoning it is very risky to be a landlord in CA now because of government eviction policies.

As a tenant in CA you can just stop paying your rent and it can take over a year to be evicted. See the show Silicon Valley, where Jared sublets his apartment and it is basically stolen from him because the tenants just stops paying rent. It's so well known that it's become a joke.

The problems here are created by zoning and eviction regulation (i.e. government regulation), not the free market.

Re: Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

#133

Post by dffdsa432 »

Tiktaalik wrote: post #116
bityard wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personal politics, IMO, is not a good reason to avoid living in certain areas. I'm a liberal-leaning moderate but many of my favorite people (friends and family) are conservative, and many of my hobbies tend to be populated mainly by the conservative demographic. You'll always find people here and there who won't give you the time of day if you're not on Team Blue or Team Red, but my take on it is, if I can't make fr…

The thing is that personal politics don't end up being a personal thing because they result in real policies that guide real material outcomes. At this point saying one is uninterested in living in a red state could be about party politics, but it also could just as much about not being inclined to subject onesself to starkly higher risks of being shot and killed (the outcome of someone's personal politics). eg. http…

What percentage of gays and minorities were shot in Provo or Lincoln compared to cities like San Francisco and Chicago? I am assuming you have statistics to back your statements.

The highest gun violence rates are in heavily blue cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Memphis and Baltimore.

Re: Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

#134

Post by benburleson »

oatmeal1 wrote: post #126
Tiktaalik wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is that personal politics don't end up being a personal thing because they result in real policies that guide real material outcomes. At this point saying one is uninterested in living in a red state could be about party politics, but it also could just as much about not being inclined to subject onesself to starkly higher risks of being shot and killed (the outcome of someone's personal politics). eg. http…

Avoiding red states to avoid being shot would be extremely dumb for many reasons. 1. Cities and neighborhoods in any state can be safe, even in the states with the most shootings 2. If you have enough money to choose to live in another state, you're probably not going to be living in an extremely poor area that is the most likely to be beset with gun violence 3. Other commonplace things are much more likely to kill y…

Texas sure seems to be an outlier though.

Re: Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

#135

Post by woodruffw »

renlo wrote: post #130
woodruffw wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I said I live in a "cool" area, not midtown Manhattan. I don't live in Manhattan at all, although I did for over 20 years. Looking at 1BR rentals in Bushwick and Ridgewood (not my areas, but similarly considered "cool"), the average is between $1800 and $2500. Studios average $1400 and $2100.

> Bushwick How was I able to sense that you lived in Bushwick before you stated it? :P . That said, Bushwick only makes sense (to me) if you don't need to commute.

I wouldn't be caught living in Bushwick :-)

(I live in another North Brooklyn neighborhood, one with much better subway access, including to Manhattan. I agree entirely about Bushwick not being an ideal neighborhood if your commute involves Manhattan.)

Re: Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

#136

Post by CapstanRoller »

oatmeal1 wrote: post #126
Tiktaalik wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is that personal politics don't end up being a personal thing because they result in real policies that guide real material outcomes. At this point saying one is uninterested in living in a red state could be about party politics, but it also could just as much about not being inclined to subject onesself to starkly higher risks of being shot and killed (the outcome of someone's personal politics). eg. http…

Avoiding red states to avoid being shot would be extremely dumb for many reasons. 1. Cities and neighborhoods in any state can be safe, even in the states with the most shootings 2. If you have enough money to choose to live in another state, you're probably not going to be living in an extremely poor area that is the most likely to be beset with gun violence 3. Other commonplace things are much more likely to kill y…

Mass shootings aren't correlated with poverty. Guns are expensive.

Most mass shooters are disaffected folks in the "middle class" who have money to acquire weapons (or access to weapons via relatives) and time to spend immersing themselves in online right-wing cesspits.

Actual poor people are too busy trying to grind and survive.

Re: Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

#137

Post by tempsy »

woodruffw wrote: post #128
tempsy wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're still exaggerating. Streeteasy says median for Bushwick is $3200. Zumper has it at $2850 for a 1 bedroom https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/new-york-ny/bushwick Yes, it's possible to rent for cheaper in the outer boroughs hence why I specifically said central and convenient. If something is $1800 it's because it's a dump or a tiny studio. It's not a normal amount rent someone is paying at all for their own p…

I don't know what to tell you: I pay about $1600 for my part of a three bedroom, which is two bedrooms to myself (one is my office), a private back yard, a front patio, and a furnished basement. I don't think I got a particularly good deal on it either, from talking to my neighbors and friends. It's not "luxury," but it definitely isn't a dump either -- from seeing other units in the neighborhood, it's probably stric…

I'm talking about what it would cost an individual to live in their own 1 bedroom in a central and convenient area not a shared apartment with roommates.

Re: Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

#138

Post by bombcar »

el_benhameen wrote: post #113
wootland wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only speak for myself but I would never work non-remote again, even if I had my own private office.

I’ve been fully remote since before the pandemic, and I have a dedicated home office, but a private office space would help me at least consider spending some of my time in the office. Being away from the responsibilities of home can help with focus. Wouldn’t consider a mandatory or full-time return to office, though.

I've never had to work in an actual cube farm or open concept (the one time I was technically in a cube farm was when I was one of five people in a farm built for 50+) but a private office is nice in ways you just can't really articulate.

We had a nice setup for awhile that was a central meeting/conference/open area, with offices all around it, each of which had a large window looking at the meeting area. You could close a curtain if you really needed to, but otherwise it was sound-proof; people could easily see if you were available but you could work privately, make calls, etc.

I'd be willing to consider commuting for something like that again in the right job.

Re: Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

#139

Post by standardUser »

eatbitseveryday wrote: post #30
SeanAnderson wrote: post #8

I live in SF and spend a fair amount of time thinking about its poor 5-year economic outlook. It's not great, but I am curious how it compares to other metros? If I were to move from SF, wanted to live in a metro area, and was uncomfortable living in a very red state - where should I consider? Where is thriving? I have a good amount of friends in Portland, but Portland is adjacent SF in terms of poor economic recover…

Living in big cities within "red" states is not like living in the state itself outside the city, other than you are all affected by the same state laws (unless the latter is the main concern). Atlanta GA, Austin TX, etc. are all "blue in a sea of red" as they say. Lived in the former myself for many years. Yes you're affected by state laws, but most of the folks in large cities are going to be less like the stereoty…

Republican politicians in many red states have been aggressively exerting political control over their blue cities and towns in recent years. It's worth considering the political trajectory of a state, not just its red/blue orientation.

Re: Downtown SF has 18.4M square feet of empty office space. We mapped every vacancy

#140

Post by georgeecollins »

wootland wrote: post #12

> “I strongly believe the office experience should be at the same level as luxury residential and hospitality,” Shvo previously told The Chronicle. “In the last two years, we’ve made our homes into our offices, now it’s time to make our offices feel like our homes.” Private bathrooms for every employee? No commute? The office can never "feel like my home", my home doesn't have my co-workers in it. It's an environment…

I think I will go into the office if it is nice enough. A few years before the pandemic I started working for an old school company with offices including doors, windows, nice furniture and privacy. Now we mix in office and remote work but I don't mind going to the office because I can be more focused there.

When I look back over past jobs, the question I wish I had asked more in advance is where will I sit here? I am never going to work in a barn again. It's not just about open plan seating, which has pros and cons. But when the company stacks people like boxes, it turns out they think of you as something fungible.

Post reply on HN