The Tech Community Must Invest More In San Francisco
1–10 of 56 posts
Re: The Tech Community Must Invest More In San Francisco
#2...but it's all about the South Bay!
Re: The Tech Community Must Invest More In San Francisco
#3From the quoted LA Times piece: "Unlike in previous booms, the tech industry isn’t creating as many middle-class jobs..."
I don't believe this. There are tons of Software Engineer jobs paying around 80-100k in SF. That salary, in that city, puts you firmly in the middle class.
However, I agree with this piece. The tech companies and the people of San Francisco as a whole need to really change things. A big part of that change probably needs to happen at the local government level where there is so much incompetence and a decent amount of corruption: http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-12-16/news/the-worst-run-big-ci...
SF wants to be a big city, but many of the residents are actively refusing policies that will allow for better services, denser urban areas and other benefits of being a large city. Otherwise, San Francisco will continue to be the largest small town in America, with problems like homelessness and income inequality worse than a city ten times it's size (say, New York City).
Re: The Tech Community Must Invest More In San Francisco
#4I've lived all over the country, and I've never seen such a big divide between two groups (wealthy tech and everyone else) as I have in the Bay Area.
The last time I was there, I realized why most of the protests for economic reform and "the 1%" are so strong in the Bay Area: because it is so blatantly thrown in people's faces! The streets are filled with Porsches and Teslas driving by the many homeless people in SF everyday. Rent is absolutely absurd. Most big cities have this problem, but its especially pronounced in SF (probably moreso than everywhere but NYC).
I think the thing that probably makes it worse in SF is, as mentioned in the article, many people don't work in SF. I don't know of many companies in Chicago, NYC, or Dallas providing free transportation to their headquarters in the suburbs, people that live in those places usually work in there too.
I'm not sure what can be done about this; Google isn't moving their headquarters to SF (nor should they). At some point this issue is going to boil over and something will have to change.
Re: The Tech Community Must Invest More In San Francisco
#5I am a little confused, not living in SF (visited once by accident in the 80's). If I read this right, most of the tech companies are not in SF, but the employees really like to live in SF. So, the tech companies bus their people on exclusive transportation to the tech company.
Is part of the problem that the suburbs (that I would imagine benefit tax-wise) are not doing a good job at being an attractive place to live? Is it an industrial park situation? It seems like some land developer has a custom audience for a development.
I have read jwz's blog for the DNA Lounge for a long time and get the vibe SF doesn't want those type of venues. It would seem a more entertainment friendly community would prosper in attracting young SF residents.
Re: The Tech Community Must Invest More In San Francisco
#6I've lived all over the country, and I've never seen such a big divide between two groups (wealthy tech and everyone else) as I have in the Bay Area. The last time I was there, I realized why most of the protests for economic reform and "the 1%" are so strong in the Bay Area: because it is so blatantly thrown in people's faces! The streets are filled with Porsches and Teslas driving by the many homeless people in SF…
> The streets are filled with Porsches and Teslas driving by the many homeless people in SF everyday.
One might argue that the homeless people wouldn't be there if the fabulous wealth weren't also there. That they can even be there should be a testament to the city's tolerance. In many places, local government does everything they can to remove them. SF has much more social conscience than a lot of people give it credit for.
Re: The Tech Community Must Invest More In San Francisco
#7I've lived all over the country, and I've never seen such a big divide between two groups (wealthy tech and everyone else) as I have in the Bay Area. The last time I was there, I realized why most of the protests for economic reform and "the 1%" are so strong in the Bay Area: because it is so blatantly thrown in people's faces! The streets are filled with Porsches and Teslas driving by the many homeless people in SF…
Exactly.
Now, you can find just 3 groups of people:
* single and DINKY hipsters
* super rich with kids
* very poor with kids (no option to leave - basically stuck)
The problem with structure like this is that, when the next recession hits (and it will hit), the first two groups will leave the city immediately.
I have feeling that solution for SF is to make it more "kids friendly" because people with kids tend to be more involved in community and they are less mobile.
Re: The Tech Community Must Invest More In San Francisco
#8I've lived all over the country, and I've never seen such a big divide between two groups (wealthy tech and everyone else) as I have in the Bay Area. The last time I was there, I realized why most of the protests for economic reform and "the 1%" are so strong in the Bay Area: because it is so blatantly thrown in people's faces! The streets are filled with Porsches and Teslas driving by the many homeless people in SF…
> The streets are filled with Porsches and Teslas driving by the many homeless people in SF everyday. One might argue that the homeless people wouldn't be there if the fabulous wealth weren't also there. That they can even be there should be a testament to the city's tolerance. In many places, local government does everything they can to remove them. SF has much more social conscience than a lot of people give it cre…
Tolerance is great, but safety should always be the primary concern.
A significant amount of homeless people are homeless, sadly, because of mental conditions. I'm not saying that most homeless people are going to attack you in the street, but things like schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder can be extremely dangerous if they go untreated.
Re: The Tech Community Must Invest More In San Francisco
#9I've lived all over the country, and I've never seen such a big divide between two groups (wealthy tech and everyone else) as I have in the Bay Area. The last time I was there, I realized why most of the protests for economic reform and "the 1%" are so strong in the Bay Area: because it is so blatantly thrown in people's faces! The streets are filled with Porsches and Teslas driving by the many homeless people in SF…
> The streets are filled with Porsches and Teslas driving by the many homeless people in SF everyday. One might argue that the homeless people wouldn't be there if the fabulous wealth weren't also there. That they can even be there should be a testament to the city's tolerance. In many places, local government does everything they can to remove them. SF has much more social conscience than a lot of people give it cre…
> One might argue that the homeless people wouldn't be there if the fabulous wealth weren't also there. That they can even be there should be a testament to the city's tolerance.
Hmm, I see it more as SF, or society in general, being irresponsible for the homeless rather than being tolerant of them being there. In fact, this brings up another point I was talking about with someone else. That when people say "the homeless problem in SF", they don't actually care about the homeless' well-being. They only care about how the homeless disturbs their daily routine.
Re: The Tech Community Must Invest More In San Francisco
#10I am a little confused, not living in SF (visited once by accident in the 80's). If I read this right, most of the tech companies are not in SF, but the employees really like to live in SF. So, the tech companies bus their people on exclusive transportation to the tech company. Is part of the problem that the suburbs (that I would imagine benefit tax-wise) are not doing a good job at being an attractive place to live…
Its because lots of young people don't want to live in Silicon Valley proper (basically Santa Clara County to the south). Santa Clara County is heavily suburban, with some very poor areas mixed in with some very affluent areas (Los Gatos, Palo Alto, Los Altos Hills). I find it hard to believe that rent is higher in SF than Sunnyvale, for example-young people just want to have their cake and eat it too-high paying tech jobs AND living in SF.