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Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

blog.sfgate.com

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Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#131

Post by ryguytilidie »

bobbles wrote: post #95
ryguytilidie wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says that the city is working on a permitting system, and that one does not currently exist. Which means that these buses are parking illegally everyday and instead of fining them, the city is coming up with a plan to accommodate them. Think they would do that for your parking tickets?

Probably because the city realises that having companies bus their employees around is a shitload better than having 20 extra individual cars on the roads?

Seems scalable. If we can come up with a hypothetical where companies are actually taking some cars off the road, just let them do illegal stuff in return.

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#132

Post by hencq »

cpucycling wrote: post #123
ChuckMcM wrote: post #48

It is entirely unclear what they are protesting, other than 'not working at Google.' The alleged trespass of using 'public infrastructure for private profit' is unsupported. People pick up and drop off people at the sidewalk (required, no stopping in the middle of the street). The staged appearance of a guy who is a union organizer (reported elsewhere) added a bit of melodrama. Looking at the action critically, what…

The problem is not that Google, Facebook, and others are "solving a problem" by providing these bus fleets. They are offering jobs on the peninsula paying more than jobs tend to pay in SF [because SF companies have to pay more for rent and ACTUALLY PAY THEIR FUCKING PAYROLL TAXES TO PAY TO MAINTAIN THE BUS STOPS], with a greater likelihood of becoming filthy rich, to people largely moving from other parts of the coun…

There seems to be a lot of anger in your comment, but it all seems to boil down to "my reasons for living in San Francisco are more valid than others'".

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#133

Post by ryguytilidie »

Houshalter wrote: post #88
ryguytilidie wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says that the city is working on a permitting system, and that one does not currently exist. Which means that these buses are parking illegally everyday and instead of fining them, the city is coming up with a plan to accommodate them. Think they would do that for your parking tickets?

Hmm perhaps. Still seems like such a minor issue to protest over.

I disagree. Our police force having BLATANT double standards which favor corporations over people is EXACTLY what people should be protesting.

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#134

Post by ryguytilidie »

mbillie1 wrote: post #77
ryguytilidie wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seemed to miss the guys point. If you park somewhere illegally and someone blocks you in, getting upset that they are doing something illegal while ignoring the fact that you are doing something similarly illegal everyday is pretty weird imo...

Not to not-pick, but just riding the bus that is illegally stopped probably isn't itself illegal (although the bus driver would likely be breaking some law or other).

Sure, but to say "wow this is totally ridiculous! what those people are doing is illegal" while never caring the least bit about the illegal thing they're taking part in is just so ridiculously self absorbed, which is kind of the root of the thing people are upset about.

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#135

Post by ryguytilidie »

xster wrote: post #109
ryguytilidie wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seemed to miss the guys point. If you park somewhere illegally and someone blocks you in, getting upset that they are doing something illegal while ignoring the fact that you are doing something similarly illegal everyday is pretty weird imo...

It's a pretty generic 'taking the law in your own hand' argument though. If you illegally double park and as consequence, I illegally shoot you and your whole family, debating what I did is besides the point since the real debate should be about why you double parked.

...are you being serious?

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#136

Post by ryguytilidie »

icebraining wrote: post #99
ryguytilidie wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says that the city is working on a permitting system, and that one does not currently exist. Which means that these buses are parking illegally everyday and instead of fining them, the city is coming up with a plan to accommodate them. Think they would do that for your parking tickets?

I don't get the objection. It seems to me that while the buses may cause disturbances to transit, they're better than the alternative of having a bunch of private cars on the road. Think they would do that for your parking tickets? If those tickets were for behaviors that are actually socially beneficial, shouldn't they? And if they wouldn't anyway, how is it Google's fault?

I mean, how much do you supporters of the google buses want to grasp at straws? It just becomes a series of:

-make argument.

-have someone explain why your argument is wrong.

-make up new argument, disregard whether it is remotely related to the original point you made. Just grasp at straws to seem "right".

I mean, we start with "its not like the buses are doing something illegal" to which the answer is "yes, they certainly are" and then it turns to this assumption that every google employee would drive otherwise, ignoring that many employees moved to these bus stop locations specifically for the buses, or the fact that there is a train that runs from SF to Mountain view. But yeah, these buses should be able to do whatever illegal behavior they want because of the next strawman i've yet to anticipate you all making up...

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#137

Post by mullingitover »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #67
ChuckMcM wrote: post #48

It is entirely unclear what they are protesting, other than 'not working at Google.' The alleged trespass of using 'public infrastructure for private profit' is unsupported. People pick up and drop off people at the sidewalk (required, no stopping in the middle of the street). The staged appearance of a guy who is a union organizer (reported elsewhere) added a bit of melodrama. Looking at the action critically, what…

My guess is that the protests are targeted more generally at gentrification. People of privilege moving to the Mission, mostly ignoring the culture of the neighborhood and it's long-time residents, fueling out of control rent increases, slowly destroying a cultural landmark. I suspect the damage has more to do with CA property tax and SF's NIMBy zoning laws than silicon valley bussing, but they do have a point that i…

>People of privilege moving to the Mission, mostly ignoring the culture of the neighborhood and it's long-time residents, fueling out of control rent increases, slowly destroying a cultural landmark.

I dunno, just peering at the crime maps for the Mission[1]...Gentrification isn't the worst thing that could happen to the place. Not gentrifying probably is.

[1] https://spotcrime.com/ca/san+francisco/mission

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#138

Post by stefan_kendall »

mahyarm wrote: post #92

They should be protesting city hall and public unions for their anti-development behavior.

Agreed. San Francisco has an artificial cap on supply as demand continues to rise.

It doesn't take more than the first 40 seconds of an economics class to figure out what's going to happen to the price.

You can either decrease demand or increase supply. And good luck kicking people out of San Francisco.

(As a side note, if I worked for google I'd live as close as possible in Mountain View. But I'm not the nightlife type.)

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#139

Post by forrestthewoods »

ebiester wrote: post #51
xanderstrike wrote: post #38

I don't get it. The buses are cutting down on personal driving (a universally acknowledged evil), and paying for permits to use the stops (generating revenue for the city). Would these people rather the Google employees all drive personal vehicles, increasing wear and tear on the roads, congestion, pollution, etc., costing the city money? Also, is it really the companies fault that the value of housing in the area is…

No. At least the ones I've heard from, they want employees of companies in the South Bay and Peninsula to live outside of San Francisco. They believe that the mass influx of money is driving long time residents out, and that building more housing is the wrong solution. I remember reading one article that suggested there should be a wait list to get to live in the city.

"and that building more housing is the wrong solution"

People who own housing in an artificially supply constrained environment would think that!

Re: Protesters block Google bus in S.F. Mission

#140

Post by colechristensen »

cpucycling wrote: post #123
ChuckMcM wrote: post #48

It is entirely unclear what they are protesting, other than 'not working at Google.' The alleged trespass of using 'public infrastructure for private profit' is unsupported. People pick up and drop off people at the sidewalk (required, no stopping in the middle of the street). The staged appearance of a guy who is a union organizer (reported elsewhere) added a bit of melodrama. Looking at the action critically, what…

The problem is not that Google, Facebook, and others are "solving a problem" by providing these bus fleets. They are offering jobs on the peninsula paying more than jobs tend to pay in SF [because SF companies have to pay more for rent and ACTUALLY PAY THEIR FUCKING PAYROLL TAXES TO PAY TO MAINTAIN THE BUS STOPS], with a greater likelihood of becoming filthy rich, to people largely moving from other parts of the coun…

The tone of this comment should be unacceptable in this community.
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