Google Employees Secretly Live on Campus to Avoid Paying Rent

Post by GFischer » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 2:48 PM UTC

gnufied wrote: post #146

bsaul wrote: post #9

Does anyone else feels like we're really getting towards the cyberpunk universe ? with corporations that completely own the life of their employees by providing them with everything, and a violent lawless and miserable outside world. And as always, it all started with the best intentions.

Reminds me of a book I read sometime back, where Employees lived on campuses, ate bio designed meat, produced bio engineered pets, products that enhanced artificial sense of well being while a biological catastrophe engulfed the outside world (mostly because of bio engineered products that these companies produced). I can't see to recall the name of the book though. Soon enough we will be getting there though.

Post by bengoodger » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 2:51 PM UTC

narrator wrote: post #148

Clanan wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't a huge part of the housing issue in SV the zoning? I recall reading about how large swathes of land have been zoned away from residential, largely because of the influence of the wealthy who live in and near the area. Never underestimate the politics!

And that is the paradox. In order to make cheap housing you'd have to destroy all the open space and low density zoning that made all the tech and VC people want to live here in the first place. Besides the current economy isn't permanent at all. The tech bubble will bust and this will all go back to normal in a few years. People who are living here for the long haul, and not just for the gold rush don't want it to g…

Post by netcan » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 2:52 PM UTC

davidw wrote: post #149

netcan wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rent in central cities is one of the unintuitive outcomes of the modern economy. SV might be an extreme example, but it isn't the only one. The world is far more globalized. People work with clients, customers, and coworkers mostly through the internet, even if they are in the same building or city. Google's a good example. They have offices all over. They have clients everywhere. Common sense would dictate that empl…

There's a great book exploring this: The New Geography of Jobs http://www.amazon.com/The-Geography-Jobs-Enrico-Moretti/dp/0... He talks about why things have not gone 'flat'.

Post by yummyfajitas » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 2:52 PM UTC

vonmoltke wrote: post #140

yummyfajitas wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Currently all my stuff fits into two backpacks (a big backpacker one and a small one for the laptop). The only thing I miss from my old stationary lifestyle is a regular gym, sparring partners and a coach. The only thing I don't understand about living in the googleplex is sex. Logistics is everything - I remember once dealing with a month of involuntary celibacy due to a bad living situation. NOT an experience…

Serious question I have always wanted to ask someone like you: How many changes of clothes do you own? I don't have an extensive wardrobe, but I couldn't fit the clothes I wear in an average week into a bag of that size, let alone everything else I use regularly.

Post by pcl » Tue, Sep 09, 2014, 2:56 PM UTC

patmcguire wrote: post #160

awjr wrote: post #73

I did this on a 6 month contract as an experiment over a mild winter in the UK in 2011. You can pretty much do this anywhere. Couple of tricks: 1) Get a small camper/van that can park in one car parking space with a diesel heating system. Kitchen is irrelevant. Bed/toilet/heating system/space to sit and type/space for clothes to hang. 2) You need a toilet but usually you time your bowel movements to only need to use…

For 16, does this mean that you can't ordinarily sleep in the back of the van, but they allow it if drunk to discourage drunk driving, or that you're not considered to be drinking and driving if you stay in the back? I'm just amused at the idea of keeping a bottle of around for emergency legal compliance.