It's a very discouraging time to try to buy a home in Portland now. I can't really figure out what to do about it.
What Happens to Home Prices When Technologists Come to Town
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Re: What Happens to Home Prices When Technologists Come to Town
#12It's still an open question as to whether this will cause San Francisco level problems. It may turn out to be a very good thing in moderation.
I think people forget that until very recently, San Francisco was actually rather fond of its tech industry. It was viewed as a creative, slightly quirky, and generally positive culture that fit right in.
Tech is actually a pretty good industry to have around. Supposedly tech jobs create wealth and, as a result, stimulate more non-tech job creation around it. The problem isn't necessarily tech, it's too much of a good thing[1]
There's also a secondary issue, which is that pacific northwestern cities have a middle-to-recent history of not really wanting Californians around, so you might be getting a more negative response from Portland or Seattle to "silicon valley moving north" than you would from Baltimore or St Louis. An occupational poll I read recently suggests that the computer industry is still looked on positively [2].
Overall, though? If this just means that tech is finally spreading out a bit, so that people can earn a programmer salary in SF (about 114k according to US news best jobs) in a place where this means they can now buy a house, raise a family, and stimulate the local economy (and perhaps an anemic housing market), I see this as a good thing.
[1] Perhaps. There is an argument to be made that tech culture has gotten much uglier with the amount of money that poured in. Also, we spend a lot of time and mathematical talent getting people to click on ads now.
[2] http://www.gallup.com/poll/156713/americans-rate-computer-in...
Re: What Happens to Home Prices When Technologists Come to Town
#13The industry is destroying everything it touches and there is nowhere to run.
Only because we insist that everyone work 8 hours a day to eat and have a place to live though we don't have to.
Being poor is just a lack of liquidity. Minimum income is opening the bank bailout philosophy from just corporate persons, to all persons. But human people act differently than corporate people, so maybe it will work in this scope.
Edit: If you disagree, could you please say why? I can be dense and clueless, but it's hard to improve if I'm ignorant.
Re: What Happens to Home Prices When Technologists Come to Town
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Only because we insist that everyone work 8 hours a day to eat and have a place to live though we don't have to.
Being poor is just a lack of liquidity. Minimum income is opening the bank bailout philosophy from just corporate persons, to all persons. But human people act differently than corporate people, so maybe it will work in this scope. Edit: If you disagree, could you please say why? I can be dense and clueless, but it's hard to improve if I'm ignorant.
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Re: What Happens to Home Prices When Technologists Come to Town
#15ask seattle, they are dealing with it now and many of the locals aint to happy.
not only have housing prices gone up, traffic and crime have as well.
Re: What Happens to Home Prices When Technologists Come to Town
#16Seattle's traditional Capitol Hill residents are really struggling with the tech influx, just down the hill in SLU. New bars and restaurants open daily, rents have skyrocketed, and their arts scene is being pushed up the hill and to the east.
Re: What Happens to Home Prices When Technologists Come to Town
#17If we were having a gold rush we'd be complaining about miners driving up prices. The tech sector is no different in that regard. I like the correlations they've drawn to the performance of individual companies, etc. but to promote the idea that these companies are any different from any other company in any other industry that would be going through the same growth is a bit off target in my opinion.
What would be interesting to me though would be data along the lines of "What is different when technologists come to town vs. [insert some other group]"
- What does it do to supporting industries/economies?
- Do schools start performing better?
- Do the local municipalities fare better because of the group that is coming in?
- Do maker labs start springing up?
- Does the level of poverty decrease?
That's the kind of stuff I'd be interested in learning about. I guess I'm asking what ACTUALLY happens when technologists come to town that's different than when doctors come to town or garbage men, etc.
Re: What Happens to Home Prices When Technologists Come to Town
#18> When I bought my first house, using money earned from co-founding a software company, I couldn’t believe that such abstract work could be exchanged for something so big and tangible, hewn from forests and rocks by people sweating in the sun. I've been writing software for years, and it still feels like magic. People work 3x as hard as me and I make 3x as much as them. Many make real, physical things; i just type aw…
The product of your work does more than 3x what you could do by yourself though, that's why it's valued more / differently. A similar argument would be made for effective organizers and the force multiplication of coordinated work.
likewise, almost anyone can chop wood or swing a hammer to break rocks.... no just anyone can write high quality code.
Re: What Happens to Home Prices When Technologists Come to Town
#19> When I bought my first house, using money earned from co-founding a software company, I couldn’t believe that such abstract work could be exchanged for something so big and tangible, hewn from forests and rocks by people sweating in the sun. I've been writing software for years, and it still feels like magic. People work 3x as hard as me and I make 3x as much as them. Many make real, physical things; i just type aw…
It embarrasses me that less physical effort grants me a more valuable reward. This probably just reflects my laborer upbringing.
I put together a few lines today that automates a 5-minute process. Across the scope of a few thousand servers, this obviates about 6.25 weeks of labor. It really does feel magical.
Re: What Happens to Home Prices When Technologists Come to Town
#20ask seattle, they are dealing with it now and many of the locals aint to happy. not only have housing prices gone up, traffic and crime have as well.
Interstate-5, a fully-featured modern interstate highway, is a modern marvel. In the middle of the afternoon, we can travel an entire 13 miles in the span of just 60 minutes!