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Google Bus blocked, window smashed in West Oakland

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Re: Google Bus blocked, window smashed in West Oakland

#281

Post by bilbo0s »

kevrone wrote: post #231
bilbo0s wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the general arc of "gentrification". First, a few places in the neighborhood are rehabbed by developers. Next the "...Burning Man hippies, self-styled artists, people who graduated from great schools with useless majors, and the usual constituent of the ... overprivileged..." move in to the rehabbed areas and the (usually) blacks have to move out. These hippy - artist types make the neighborhood more attracti…

I didn't know Harlem had a tech community. Brooklyn, for sure. But Harlem? That's news to me.

I was just trying to put the arc in Bay Area terms for illustration purposes. There ARE a lot of tech workers in Harlem, but not a "tech community". As a general rule... most of the people purchasing in Harlem are purchasing to get AWAY from their professional communities. So what I meant was more the NY equivalent of upper-middle class technocrat. ie - hospital administrators, lawyers, book store owners, doctors, sports management guys... and, of course, techies too.

Maybe it would have been more clear if I had used the normal real estate divisions of "workforce", "upscale" and "exclusive". I just thought artists, teachers, techies and celebrities would illustrate the differences a little better for the purposes of making the point against violence.

Re: Google Bus blocked, window smashed in West Oakland

#282

Post by ffrryuu »

baddox wrote: post #185
ffrryuu wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean guns? Maybe give bullet proof vest to Google employees.

I'm just mean security guards. I doubt they are allowed to carry guns.

I like it that my sarcasm was treated like a serious comment :)

j/k, but seriously, you want good relations with the community. You can't win with security guards.

Re: Google Bus blocked, window smashed in West Oakland

#283

Post by pekk »

greenyoda wrote: post #156
null_ptr wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't tech employees pay the same income and sales taxes as anybody else? Every age has its booming industry, technology is our generation's. You can either accept reality and try to acquire relevant skills that are in demand, or act hurt and expect to get handed what others have to work for.

Actually, they pay more taxes than the average resident. Higher-income people have higher income tax rates, buy more stuff (hence more sales tax) and live in more expensive real estate (higher property tax). If not for high-income people, the cities they live in would not be able to offer the services they do to low-income people.

Subtext: if you make good money, you have no social responsibility beyond paying the taxes your accountant can't get you out of paying

Re: Google Bus blocked, window smashed in West Oakland

#284

Post by vacri »

rodly wrote: post #131

As usual, the irony is at an all time high. > "While they took their seats, several people unfurled two giant banners reading “TECHIES: Your World Is Not Welcome Here” and “FUCK OFF GOOGLE.” People holding banners that were laser printed with materials synthesized by complex machines. People with cell phones tucked away in their pockets. People who have used Google a million times.

Careful, your bias is showing. Despite no photos of the banners, and the banners being described as having been 'unfurled' (suggesting cloth) you declare them to be laser-printed.

There is no irony to be had when you manufacture the story.

Re: Google Bus blocked, window smashed in West Oakland

#285

Post by wankerrific »

jrockway wrote: post #4

It would be much better to have 100 more cars on the road during rush hour, right?

No - it would be better to have those 100 people living down near where they work - in Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Fremont, Santa Clara, Milpitas, etc. The GBus only solves a problem it creates currently.

Re: Google Bus blocked, window smashed in West Oakland

#286

Post by jessedhillon »

raldi wrote: post #247
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fun writeup. Wrong attitude. Silicon Valley technology, this is Manhattan finance with a word of advice. We know the roots of the problem are housing supply restrictions and a lack of mass transit. In essence, City Hall problems. So why are they able to pin the blame on you? Because you're painting a target on your back. Ducking your heads makes you a low-risk scapegoat. Scoffing at the less fortunate, regardless of…

Could you rephrase that with fewer metaphors? I'm having trouble understanding what actual thing it is that you think techies should be doing.

Volunteering and spending time with the actual poor in the communities where we live. Make it known on the street that techies are people who are involved with the poor, so that it becomes more difficult to co-opt their struggles the way these "anarchist" types do.

Re: Google Bus blocked, window smashed in West Oakland

#288

Post by bilbo0s »

avn2109 wrote: post #267
kevrone wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know Harlem had a tech community. Brooklyn, for sure. But Harlem? That's news to me.

Seriously. I live in Harlem (Hamilton Heights) and tech/bankers/celebrities are not extant anywhere near me.

I operate out of Houston... so I only know the buildings that I have the investment info on. Without going to check... two projects spring to mind along [W] 118th (8th/Fredrick Douglas area). They are SUPPOSED to be upscale. Maybe upscale in NY is different than upscale in Houston??? Don't know.

At any rate... these are just two of several projects throughout Harlem. If you live in an area of Harlem that developers have not encroached on... buy more property around you and sit on it. You are right in the middle of what will be a golden opportunity. (But the prices may already be reflecting that. Wouldn't hurt to check though would be my advice.)

Re: Google Bus blocked, window smashed in West Oakland

#289

Post by icebraining »

api wrote: post #182
dllthomas wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#1 is also the fault of conservative property owners, because building new housing lowers the prices of existing houses.

Yes, it's sort of a de-facto alliance: conservative property owners and clueless braindead slacktivists. Remove the slactivists and their flimsy environmental arguments from the equation and the purely greed-driven NIMBYism of the property owners will become much harder to defend/justify.

Seems like yet another example of Bootleggers and Baptists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootleggers_and_Baptists

Re: Google Bus blocked, window smashed in West Oakland

#290

Post by vacri »

dragontamer wrote: post #62
zrail wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The private buses are a very visible symbol of what's going on in their neighborhood. They're an obvious target.

They're an obvious soft-target. An easy target that they can attack without penalty. The "obvious target" would be to do this in the middle of the city, to raise better awareness of their anger and their message. As it is, this is simply an unknown attack on a bus. Even the spin-propaganda blog post is very unclear on what the problem is...

As it is, this is simply an unknown attack on a bus.

And yet look at all this discussion here on a forum that caters to the demographic they're targetting.

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