'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant
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Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant
#2The article makes it sound really bigger than it is. From what I experienced the opposition is quite small, signs anti-google are only visible in a few specific locations in one neighborhood, and in general only a few people are vocal against it (mostly anarchists or anti capitalists activists). I would expect some level of opposition from a fringe of the population in any city where Google or other tech giants want to open offices.
Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant
#3The article makes it sound really bigger than it is. From what I experienced the opposition is quite small, signs anti-google are only visible in a few specific locations in one neighborhood, and in general only a few people are vocal against it (mostly anarchists or anti capitalists activists). I would expect some level of opposition from a fringe of the population in any city where Google or other tech giants want…
"Google campus will only have 6-10 employees"
Kreuzberg is...special.
Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant
#4I live in the neighbourhood, very close to where the "campus" is being built. I understand that Google has a lot of symbolic value in the protests, but I don't think that it actually will have such an impact. Paul-linke-ufer is already full of startups and relatively affluent american hipsters flood the caffes in the hood. That is also ok, I guess, (like UFO361 says hahaha), people in the end can live wherever they want. But what is not ok is the cartel-like tactics that Berliner landlords use to rise rents. In Germany people tend to not own flats, but this means many buildings are owned by big companies with lots of pressure power when they want to do mass rent increases. They do really shady things like playing with the WBS (social housing) rules against the renters, like with these renters in Maybachufer: https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/1086567.falsches-sp... The rents went up 17% last year in and this rate is increasing every year. This is really worrying and I hope the city becomes serious about it.
Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant
#5The article makes it sound really bigger than it is. From what I experienced the opposition is quite small, signs anti-google are only visible in a few specific locations in one neighborhood, and in general only a few people are vocal against it (mostly anarchists or anti capitalists activists). I would expect some level of opposition from a fringe of the population in any city where Google or other tech giants want…
"Google campus will only have 6-10 employees" Kreuzberg is...special.
Why would they build a whole campus just for 10 employees?
Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant
#6ces allemands sont fous
Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant
#7It kinda seems like the protestors build their arguments around the fact that they don't like Google, not vice versa.
Also it's amusing how the article struggles with "Umspannwerk"
Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant
#8I live in the neighbourhood, very close to where the "campus" is being built. I understand that Google has a lot of symbolic value in the protests, but I don't think that it actually will have such an impact. Paul-linke-ufer is already full of startups and relatively affluent american hipsters flood the caffes in the hood. That is also ok, I guess, (like UFO361 says hahaha), people in the end can live wherever they w…
Paul-Lincke-Ufer was my first flat in Berlin, in 2008. A bedroom then went for €400/mo, and that was considered high then. Now I imagine it is 3-4x that.
Re: 'Google go home': the Berlin neighbourhood fighting off a tech giant
#9I think Berlins "Poor but happy" times are fast coming to an end. Rents have been rising quickly the last few years and tech companies and startups becoming more prevalent. Heck, Neukölln went from being a cheap alternative to being as trendy and expensive as Kreuzberg.
Berlin kinda, from what I understand, enjoyed it's special culture much because it wasn't an industrial city and lacked an large international airport, but cheap rent, international vibe and fun hipster values seems like the perfect void for tech to move into now that rents and prices in the usual "big cities" have gone through the roof. I can also imagine cities like Amsterdam and Berlin getting some Brexit escapees.
Mark my words, Berlin will be Europe's Silicon Valley within a few years.