cawacko
Well-known member
Maybe this should go under off topic but since President Obama said income inequality is the number one issue of our day I'll post it here. So the San Francisco Bay Area, and Silicon Valley in specific, have too many high paying tech jobs (along with foreigners who want to invest/own here) which are forcing rents to rise in SF. San Francisco is only 49 square miles and with much of it surrounded by water the only way to grow is up, not out. There are a couple of neighborhoods where high rise condos and apartment buildings are being built but much of the City is not for the 'Manhattanization' of the area.
So the "anti-genetrification activists" are protesting Google and Apple buses that pick up young employees in the City and commute them to the Silicon Valley.
From a political perspective I find it interesting at times how our local politicians deal with this. When you have more people that want to live in an area than there is housing it's a basic supply and demand issue. An obvious strategy is to build more housing. But the "soul" of the City, to some, are the artists, musicians and creative types who live here and are getting priced out so we need to do something for them. Rent control is one way in that if you are lucky enough to get a rent controlled apartment at a low or reasonable rate you could stay there a long time. Rent control also distorts the market causing prices to rise elsewhere. The City can partner with non-profit developers and build subsidized housing which is great if you are one of the lucky ones to get a unit. But that provides a very small of units overall. Single family homes in SF average around $1 million each. Most middle class can't afford that so they look to the suburbs so we end up with a City of the rich and wealthy and the lowest income folks who get City help.
I'm not even sure where I was going with this now but I would love to hear how others feel this problem should be addressed.
Protesters block tech buses before SFMTA meeting
Anti-gentrification protesters again blocked tech buses carrying workers out of San Francisco on Tuesday morning. This time, just after 9 a.m., they blocked a pair of shuttles downtown, near Eighth and Market streets and close to City Hall, where later in the day city transportation leaders are scheduled to consider a pilot program that would charge bus operators a fee to use Muni stops — $1 per day per stop.
For some, the buses, used by companies like Google and Apple, have become symbols of income disparity in San Francisco. Others credit the buses with taking cars off the road and reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.
On Tuesday, the few dozen protesters — in front of a large pool of media — surrounded the buses and prevented them from moving. Some plastered a sign to one of the coaches that read “Gentrification and Eviction Technologies” in Google-type script. They chanted, “Stop evictions.” By 9:45 a.m., police had cleared out the crowd and the buses had departed, though their destination was not clear.
“At the very least, it gets the mayor’s attention,” said protester Tory Antoni, who lives in an apartment in the Mid-Market area where he says an influx of well-paid tech workers has driven up the cost of rent. “We want to stop the evictions.”
The blocking of tech buses is beginning to become a fairly regular thing in the Bay Area. At least twice last month, buses were blocked at separate locations. In one case, a protest became destructive when someone slashed the tires and shattered a window on a bus in Oakland.
Tuesday’s protest came a day after it was revealed that Google’s PR department had encouraged employees to attend the SFMTA meeting where tech buses are being discussed — giving them ready-made talking points.
Some protesters want Google and other private shuttle operators to pay more for the use of the city’s public bus stops.
http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2014/01/21/protesters-block-tech-buses-before-sfmta-meeting/#19836101=0
So the "anti-genetrification activists" are protesting Google and Apple buses that pick up young employees in the City and commute them to the Silicon Valley.
From a political perspective I find it interesting at times how our local politicians deal with this. When you have more people that want to live in an area than there is housing it's a basic supply and demand issue. An obvious strategy is to build more housing. But the "soul" of the City, to some, are the artists, musicians and creative types who live here and are getting priced out so we need to do something for them. Rent control is one way in that if you are lucky enough to get a rent controlled apartment at a low or reasonable rate you could stay there a long time. Rent control also distorts the market causing prices to rise elsewhere. The City can partner with non-profit developers and build subsidized housing which is great if you are one of the lucky ones to get a unit. But that provides a very small of units overall. Single family homes in SF average around $1 million each. Most middle class can't afford that so they look to the suburbs so we end up with a City of the rich and wealthy and the lowest income folks who get City help.
I'm not even sure where I was going with this now but I would love to hear how others feel this problem should be addressed.
Protesters block tech buses before SFMTA meeting
Anti-gentrification protesters again blocked tech buses carrying workers out of San Francisco on Tuesday morning. This time, just after 9 a.m., they blocked a pair of shuttles downtown, near Eighth and Market streets and close to City Hall, where later in the day city transportation leaders are scheduled to consider a pilot program that would charge bus operators a fee to use Muni stops — $1 per day per stop.
For some, the buses, used by companies like Google and Apple, have become symbols of income disparity in San Francisco. Others credit the buses with taking cars off the road and reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.
On Tuesday, the few dozen protesters — in front of a large pool of media — surrounded the buses and prevented them from moving. Some plastered a sign to one of the coaches that read “Gentrification and Eviction Technologies” in Google-type script. They chanted, “Stop evictions.” By 9:45 a.m., police had cleared out the crowd and the buses had departed, though their destination was not clear.
“At the very least, it gets the mayor’s attention,” said protester Tory Antoni, who lives in an apartment in the Mid-Market area where he says an influx of well-paid tech workers has driven up the cost of rent. “We want to stop the evictions.”
The blocking of tech buses is beginning to become a fairly regular thing in the Bay Area. At least twice last month, buses were blocked at separate locations. In one case, a protest became destructive when someone slashed the tires and shattered a window on a bus in Oakland.
Tuesday’s protest came a day after it was revealed that Google’s PR department had encouraged employees to attend the SFMTA meeting where tech buses are being discussed — giving them ready-made talking points.
Some protesters want Google and other private shuttle operators to pay more for the use of the city’s public bus stops.
http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2014/01/21/protesters-block-tech-buses-before-sfmta-meeting/#19836101=0
