Activists Sue San Francisco Over 'Google Bus' Stops

Everyone on the board here and elsewhere is quick to pick on the SF protesters but if you look at the history of SF, it's filled with protesters. Were it not for protesters, SF would be filled like every other major urban city in America with freeways. I'm a property owner in SF so I know just how expensive it is to live here and I don't begrudge any of the protesters. Gentrification is real, if the developers and rich folk have there way, SF will develop a mono culture because all of the artists, lower wage workers, etc... will be driven out of the city. Just the other day the local newspaper profiled one city planner who makes a shit ton of money compared to city planners in most other US cities was kicked out of three apartments in the span of a few months because the landlord wanted to raise rents.

In short, protesting is part of the culture and soul of SF. I'd rather have that any day than a completely gentrified city.
 
These activists are those stupid "street performers" and "street artists" that plague the city with their ilk. They used to benefit off rent control by paying hugely low rents ($500/month average) though landlords are finding ways to evict them to bring in people who will pay current market rates ($3K-$4K/month). I for one welcome them getting the boot. That city is a cesspoll and hopefully the young taking it over can help clean it up.

It's no wonder everyone is protesting if people such as yourself blatantly prejudge everyone who doesn't look or act like them.
 
Google located in Mountain View because its in Silicon Valley. They located Google in silicon valley for 2 main reasons which are having access to investment capital when they were just starting out and because of the highly educated human capital. Both of which are extremely important to companies but at this point I believe Google could pretty much be headquartered anywhere and they would have countless people who would be willing to relocate just to work for them and investment capital is not an issue these days for them.

And the main reason they're in Silicon Valley... is because it's Silicon Valley. You could have said the same thing about Apple moving it's HQ, they don't because of the location. Why do you think Facebook moved to Menlo Park? It's not because they need the highly educated labor force coming out of college (Stanford, Berkeley, etc) it's because of the location.
 
Everyone on the board here and elsewhere is quick to pick on the SF protesters but if you look at the history of SF, it's filled with protesters. Were it not for protesters, SF would be filled like every other major urban city in America with freeways. I'm a property owner in SF so I know just how expensive it is to live here and I don't begrudge any of the protesters. Gentrification is real, if the developers and rich folk have there way, SF will develop a mono culture because all of the artists, lower wage workers, etc... will be driven out of the city. Just the other day the local newspaper profiled one city planner who makes a shit ton of money compared to city planners in most other US cities was kicked out of three apartments in the span of a few months because the landlord wanted to raise rents.

In short, protesting is part of the culture and soul of SF. I'd rather have that any day than a completely gentrified city.

Completely agree. I worked in downtown San Francisco for a few years and I lived in the bay area most of my life (South San Francisco). While I may not agree with the way that some of these protesters are handling the Google Buses, gentrification is real.
 
I'm not sure how long you've been following the SF economy, but it was an expensive, desirable and pretentious city to live in long before the term "Silicon Valley" existed.

It's like saying Manhattan would be all teepees without Wall Street. Wall Street came to Manhattan because of Manhattan, Manhattan didn't come to Wall Street, so to speak.

Manhatten would be all teepees without Wall Street.
The NYSE came about in 1817 and made Manhatten into the world's financial sector capital. Without it Manhatten would just be another inner city borough. Not even sure how anyone could possibly argue otherwise.

I think Google should fight back, but not in the courts or city gov't. Google should treat this kind of childish protest with the disregard it deserves by equipping it's buses with squirt gun turrets, so those employees already on the bus can defend their coworkers against the protesters. In addition to being hilarious it would also be a great team building exercise.

This is hands down the best thing I have read about this whole issue anywhere. I'd love it, "Leave no man/woman behind!" "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to retrieve Google employes from the bus stop at soandso. The use of non-lethal squirt gun force is authorized."

Google should do that for just the heck of it, have their people pop smoke at the bus stop to get evac'ed.

Gentrification is real, if the developers and rich folk have there way, SF will develop a mono culture because all of the artists, lower wage workers, etc... will be driven out of the city.

Gentrification is capitalism working as intended. Those who have can do more than those who have not. That's what makes this country great. In nature there is survival of the fittest and gentrification is merely a more political correct form of the same concept.
 
I wonder how many of you commenting live here in the "Silicon Valley"? One? Two? I live in San Jose, work in Milpitas and am in the semi-conductor industry. For what little it's worth, here's my musings / ramblings / opinions on the subject.

It's a long post. If you're lazy, or the TL/DR type, then scamper on along to the next post.

The problem isn't Google in and of itself; but the whole of Silicon Valley is a place that's far out of touch with reality. The Google Buses are an easy target for the anger people who DON'T make high salaries to target. Also keep in mind what YOU (outside of the Silicon Valley) think to be a high salary and what *WE* actually make here are two very different things. In 95% of the USA what I make per hour/year makes people jealous. Here in San Jose the general reaction inside people heads in my general industry is "that's all?". I'm barely middle class.

Consider this.

If you don't make at least $75k/yr here you're pretty much fucked.

THOUSANDS of people shut down I-880 on Saturday chasing the dream of getting a job at Tesla that would start at $17/hr with no experience; or a whopping ~$35,500/yr. The job fair was supposed to start at 8. So many people showed up hours before that they shut the whole thing down at 7. And yet you'd still only be about 50% of the way to being able to have an apartment of your own that's not crammed full of roommates and what not.

Regardless if you agree with the people protesting the GBus or not, this is what's happening and why people are angry. Rent and home prices are out of control. Finding something decent for under ~$1,800/m is next to impossible. This is a place where, in the nice part of Palo Alto, a 3k-sq' townhouse rents for $8,000/month. The new apartment complex near my work, for a 3bd/2bt apartment goes for $3,800/month. Renting a typical 3bd/2bt home (say ~1,300sq') in a neighborhood that doesn't require bars on the windows starts at $2,500-2.700/m. I'm moving in a couple weeks and can tell you that in the course of a year, average rental prices for said homes have increased $400/m.

How about buying? Well, let's put it in perspective. Go look at, say, Houston. Find a nice house for around $250k. That's a lot of home for the money, isn't it? That place would sell for well over $1M here; quite likely $1.5M. Your typical, nothing fancy 60's house like I just rented, currently sells for $600k.

People will say "BUT YOU MAKE MORE THERE!". Well, yes and no. Everything else is pretty damn expensive here too. Consider also that I (and to be honest, you) wouldn't be making, say, five times less in Houston than you would in San Jose.

People will also say "Renters are fucking morons". To which I agree to a certain extent. However most of these opinionated people wouldn't be able to afford a home here either. How many people can honestly pull a 10-20% down payment out of their ass on a $600k home? Because, dear [H]'ers, that's really where houses start here in decent areas. And, really, why would you? If I had $120k to pull out of my ass right now, I'd move back to my family in the mid-west, or maybe even Houston/Austin and buy that $250K home you looked at earlier.

But that's just me. :p

You can scorn the protesters all you like. That's the wonderful thing about the 1st Amendment. However, for those you that don't live here (and this would be most of you), I suggest you do some research to understand what's happening. Read up on Ellis Law Evictions, what they mean and understand they're at an all time high. My 100% uneducated gut feeling is that investors are cashing in as fast as they can before shit hits the fan. Because it has to. Every day I see people who work at honest, regular jobs and wonder "How the HELL can they afford to live here?!"... and it's only going to get worse. At some point, when the work-a-day people cannot afford to live here, the bubble here in Silicon Valley will pop yet again. For that matter, even the wealthy hi-tech companies will hit a brick-wall in regards to wages. Once that happens, people will balk/refuse to move here as the rents/home prices continue up, up, up, yet the wages don't climb with them. Hate to say it, but I and quite a few people I know, are waiting for this to happen. Maybe then we can afford to buy a house.

People are scared. And these people aren't the "hipster, slacker, freeloader" types that so many think. I know a lot of people who are terrified of being kicked out. And I don't blame them. These are good, hard working folks. Many of you don't care, but the truth is, the madness and profit taking that's running rampant around this area are, bluntly speaking, fucking with peoples lives. It'll only last so long before things get ugly. Be interesting to see how it all works out.
 
Gentrification is capitalism working as intended. Those who have can do more than those who have not. That's what makes this country great. In nature there is survival of the fittest and gentrification is merely a more political correct form of the same concept.

So we should eschew anything or anyone that doesn't hold the dollar as sacred over everything else? Are you sure your name's not Gordon Gekko?
 
I wonder how many of you commenting live here in the "Silicon Valley"? One? Two? I live in San Jose, work in Milpitas and am in the semi-conductor industry. For what little it's worth, here's my musings / ramblings / opinions on the subject.

It's a long post. If you're lazy, or the TL/DR type, then scamper on along to the next post.

The problem isn't Google in and of itself; but the whole of Silicon Valley is a place that's far out of touch with reality. The Google Buses are an easy target for the anger people who DON'T make high salaries to target. Also keep in mind what YOU (outside of the Silicon Valley) think to be a high salary and what *WE* actually make here are two very different things. In 95% of the USA what I make per hour/year makes people jealous. Here in San Jose the general reaction inside people heads in my general industry is "that's all?". I'm barely middle class.

Consider this.

If you don't make at least $75k/yr here you're pretty much fucked.

THOUSANDS of people shut down I-880 on Saturday chasing the dream of getting a job at Tesla that would start at $17/hr with no experience; or a whopping ~$35,500/yr. The job fair was supposed to start at 8. So many people showed up hours before that they shut the whole thing down at 7. And yet you'd still only be about 50% of the way to being able to have an apartment of your own that's not crammed full of roommates and what not.

Regardless if you agree with the people protesting the GBus or not, this is what's happening and why people are angry. Rent and home prices are out of control. Finding something decent for under ~$1,800/m is next to impossible. This is a place where, in the nice part of Palo Alto, a 3k-sq' townhouse rents for $8,000/month. The new apartment complex near my work, for a 3bd/2bt apartment goes for $3,800/month. Renting a typical 3bd/2bt home (say ~1,300sq') in a neighborhood that doesn't require bars on the windows starts at $2,500-2.700/m. I'm moving in a couple weeks and can tell you that in the course of a year, average rental prices for said homes have increased $400/m.

How about buying? Well, let's put it in perspective. Go look at, say, Houston. Find a nice house for around $250k. That's a lot of home for the money, isn't it? That place would sell for well over $1M here; quite likely $1.5M. Your typical, nothing fancy 60's house like I just rented, currently sells for $600k.

People will say "BUT YOU MAKE MORE THERE!". Well, yes and no. Everything else is pretty damn expensive here too. Consider also that I (and to be honest, you) wouldn't be making, say, five times less in Houston than you would in San Jose.

People will also say "Renters are fucking morons". To which I agree to a certain extent. However most of these opinionated people wouldn't be able to afford a home here either. How many people can honestly pull a 10-20% down payment out of their ass on a $600k home? Because, dear [H]'ers, that's really where houses start here in decent areas. And, really, why would you? If I had $120k to pull out of my ass right now, I'd move back to my family in the mid-west, or maybe even Houston/Austin and buy that $250K home you looked at earlier.

But that's just me. :p

You can scorn the protesters all you like. That's the wonderful thing about the 1st Amendment. However, for those you that don't live here (and this would be most of you), I suggest you do some research to understand what's happening. Read up on Ellis Law Evictions, what they mean and understand they're at an all time high. My 100% uneducated gut feeling is that investors are cashing in as fast as they can before shit hits the fan. Because it has to. Every day I see people who work at honest, regular jobs and wonder "How the HELL can they afford to live here?!"... and it's only going to get worse. At some point, when the work-a-day people cannot afford to live here, the bubble here in Silicon Valley will pop yet again. For that matter, even the wealthy hi-tech companies will hit a brick-wall in regards to wages. Once that happens, people will balk/refuse to move here as the rents/home prices continue up, up, up, yet the wages don't climb with them. Hate to say it, but I and quite a few people I know, are waiting for this to happen. Maybe then we can afford to buy a house.

People are scared. And these people aren't the "hipster, slacker, freeloader" types that so many think. I know a lot of people who are terrified of being kicked out. And I don't blame them. These are good, hard working folks. Many of you don't care, but the truth is, the madness and profit taking that's running rampant around this area are, bluntly speaking, fucking with peoples lives. It'll only last so long before things get ugly. Be interesting to see how it all works out.

Its funny to me that you used Houston as an example because I moved to Houston from the South bay this past July and I used much of the same logic that you used to justify my move. I had spent a little more than half my life living in the Bay Area (the rest in Los Angeles) Graduated from high school and college in the Bay Area. Living in California its all I had ever known so for the longest time I assumed that was where I was gonna live the rest of my life.

It was not until the discrepancy between the cost of living California and everywhere else in the country did I start looking for jobs all across the country (even with the same exact income you are better off in 95% of the country) I was losing hope when I got a job offer which offered me a nice raise (~20%) in Houston which was a WAY lower cost of living in a state without income taxes. I took the offer having never set foot in the state and was here just over 3 weeks later. Its been a big change but I have not regretted it.

When I told people I was moving they all told me I was dumb and that I would come running back and that has not happened and I strongly doubt I will ever live in California again. 2.2 million people live in the city of Houston, if it really sucked that many people would not live here and it would not have the 2nd largest number of fortune 500 companies headquartered here after NYC.
 
So we should eschew anything or anyone that doesn't hold the dollar as sacred over everything else? Are you sure your name's not Gordon Gekko?

like it or not money has an impact in the lives of everyone. Whether or not you think its fair there is no other method available which is accepted by everyone to allocate scarce goods (e.g. housing in SF) if there is a better method let me know about it because i'd like to learn about it.
 
Problem with Detroit (even with dirt cheap real estate) is the loons that turned it into the sh*thole it is today are still running the joint. It will either never recover or simply wind up right back where it is today. Limited Real Estate only comes into play if people want to move to the place where you own it.

If I owned two homes, one in Detroit and the other in hell. I'd rent out the place in Detroit and live in hell... :p
Good News. Hell is a real place, and it too is in Michigan. only a short drive from Detroit. :p
 
What about social security and Medicare? Or are you going to argue the finer points of taxation? Tax is tax. Which, by the way, is tax.

I'm unsure what you are saying.

But if I need to make myself clearer, Google should not get any special privileges due to the taxes that they pay just the same as any other business. Total $$$ amount is irrelevant.
 
It's no wonder everyone is protesting if people such as yourself blatantly prejudge everyone who doesn't look or act like them.

"Everyone" is not protesting. It is the ex-residents who got pushed out after landlords took time to find ways around San Francisco's absurd rent controls that the street performers (who amount to space painters, instrument players, and dancers) relied on to pay their rents which were 700-800% below market rates. The other group of protesters are your typical activists-in-training who use liberal hellholes like San Francisco for training. They can all go pound sand and cry me a river.
 
I wonder how many of you commenting live here in the "Silicon Valley"? One? Two? I live in San Jose, work in Milpitas and am in the semi-conductor industry. For what little it's worth, here's my musings / ramblings / opinions on the subject.

It's a long post. If you're lazy, or the TL/DR type, then scamper on along to the next post.

The problem isn't Google in and of itself; but the whole of Silicon Valley is a place that's far out of touch with reality. The Google Buses are an easy target for the anger people who DON'T make high salaries to target. Also keep in mind what YOU (outside of the Silicon Valley) think to be a high salary and what *WE* actually make here are two very different things. In 95% of the USA what I make per hour/year makes people jealous. Here in San Jose the general reaction inside people heads in my general industry is "that's all?". I'm barely middle class.

Consider this.

If you don't make at least $75k/yr here you're pretty much fucked.

THOUSANDS of people shut down I-880 on Saturday chasing the dream of getting a job at Tesla that would start at $17/hr with no experience; or a whopping ~$35,500/yr. The job fair was supposed to start at 8. So many people showed up hours before that they shut the whole thing down at 7. And yet you'd still only be about 50% of the way to being able to have an apartment of your own that's not crammed full of roommates and what not.

Regardless if you agree with the people protesting the GBus or not, this is what's happening and why people are angry. Rent and home prices are out of control. Finding something decent for under ~$1,800/m is next to impossible. This is a place where, in the nice part of Palo Alto, a 3k-sq' townhouse rents for $8,000/month. The new apartment complex near my work, for a 3bd/2bt apartment goes for $3,800/month. Renting a typical 3bd/2bt home (say ~1,300sq') in a neighborhood that doesn't require bars on the windows starts at $2,500-2.700/m. I'm moving in a couple weeks and can tell you that in the course of a year, average rental prices for said homes have increased $400/m.

How about buying? Well, let's put it in perspective. Go look at, say, Houston. Find a nice house for around $250k. That's a lot of home for the money, isn't it? That place would sell for well over $1M here; quite likely $1.5M. Your typical, nothing fancy 60's house like I just rented, currently sells for $600k.

People will say "BUT YOU MAKE MORE THERE!". Well, yes and no. Everything else is pretty damn expensive here too. Consider also that I (and to be honest, you) wouldn't be making, say, five times less in Houston than you would in San Jose.

People will also say "Renters are fucking morons". To which I agree to a certain extent. However most of these opinionated people wouldn't be able to afford a home here either. How many people can honestly pull a 10-20% down payment out of their ass on a $600k home? Because, dear [H]'ers, that's really where houses start here in decent areas. And, really, why would you? If I had $120k to pull out of my ass right now, I'd move back to my family in the mid-west, or maybe even Houston/Austin and buy that $250K home you looked at earlier.

But that's just me. :p

You can scorn the protesters all you like. That's the wonderful thing about the 1st Amendment. However, for those you that don't live here (and this would be most of you), I suggest you do some research to understand what's happening. Read up on Ellis Law Evictions, what they mean and understand they're at an all time high. My 100% uneducated gut feeling is that investors are cashing in as fast as they can before shit hits the fan. Because it has to. Every day I see people who work at honest, regular jobs and wonder "How the HELL can they afford to live here?!"... and it's only going to get worse. At some point, when the work-a-day people cannot afford to live here, the bubble here in Silicon Valley will pop yet again. For that matter, even the wealthy hi-tech companies will hit a brick-wall in regards to wages. Once that happens, people will balk/refuse to move here as the rents/home prices continue up, up, up, yet the wages don't climb with them. Hate to say it, but I and quite a few people I know, are waiting for this to happen. Maybe then we can afford to buy a house.

People are scared. And these people aren't the "hipster, slacker, freeloader" types that so many think. I know a lot of people who are terrified of being kicked out. And I don't blame them. These are good, hard working folks. Many of you don't care, but the truth is, the madness and profit taking that's running rampant around this area are, bluntly speaking, fucking with peoples lives. It'll only last so long before things get ugly. Be interesting to see how it all works out.

I read this and thought about it for a good while, but I really feel it just misses a crucial point in regards to the protesters.

1) If you are a "Renter" you always have the option to move and expecting a "rental" property to remain static in value or even available to you is pretty stupid.

2) If you are a pre-existing home owner, this obviously doesn't apply to you.

3) If you are looking to Buy, then you have to ask yourself Very important questions as a prospective homeowner. Among them are: does my skillset allow me a job/salary that makes living in an area possible? If not, then frankly that's too damn bad.

So Back to the original point, rent skyrocketing. Renters have no right to expect everything will remain the same. You rent, you don't own. If you don't like the rent, then fucking move or get a better job. If rents get out of control where they exceed what people are willing to pay, that is the bubble that will pop not the jobs. Landlords aren't usually stupid, they are going to charge as much as they feel they can get away with while keeping "paying Renters" in. If that means being able to get high paid silicon valley techs to pay retarded amounts of money because they don't care? Then by all means. If you suddenly cannot afford rent to live in the city because your only skill is making balloon animals? Well tough shit, guess you either need to learn something better or move where you can afford to rent making balloon animals.
 
2.2 million people live in the city of Houston, if it really sucked that many people would not live here and it would not have the 2nd largest number of fortune 500 companies headquartered here after NYC.
7.4 million live in the SF Bay Area ;)

Houston is also way the fuck spread out, where other cities would simply have suburbs that fall under their umbrella Houston just has large city limits and keeps going outward similar to the way suburban sprawl works. SF has about 1/3 the population living in a city 1/12th the size of Houston. If you were going to hate Houston it would be for things other than traffic and density... like heat :D
 
7.4 million live in the SF Bay Area ;)

Houston is also way the fuck spread out, where other cities would simply have suburbs that fall under their umbrella Houston just has large city limits and keeps going outward similar to the way suburban sprawl works. SF has about 1/3 the population living in a city 1/12th the size of Houston. If you were going to hate Houston it would be for things other than traffic and density... like heat :D

the heat is really not that bad. I really was expecting to suck ass like vegas in the summer but it rarely gets to 100. the humidity makes you sweat easier if you do manual labor outside you do sweat like a whore in church. but over all its not too bad.

I live in the city and work in the burbs and traffic for me it not too bad. 15 mile commute takes about 20 minutes. But on my way to work I see miles of suckers crawling into the city everyday.
 
overall climate is just one of the many factors that determine whether or not somewhere is a desireable place to live. NYC has the exact same climate classification as Houston yet its looked at one of the most desirable places in the US to live.
 
So we should eschew anything or anyone that doesn't hold the dollar as sacred over everything else? Are you sure your name's not Gordon Gekko?

The thing is that you simply cannot have it both ways; in the US we have a *culture* that money talks which is very different from a more social capitalism in Europe. Take Denmark for example, they are capitalists, and individuals as well as enterprises make plenty of profit there, but in contrast to the US the folks in Denmark are quite literally the happiest people on Earth, see http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/20/travel/happiest-countries-to-visit/

So how do they do it?
Simple, their culture supports social and communal efforts. They even have the Law of Jante, which broadly speaking "is the idea that there is a pattern of group behaviour towards individuals within Scandinavian communities that negatively portrays and criticises individual success and achievement as unworthy and inappropriate", see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Jante

The US, unlike most other places on Earth, has a very individualistic culture in which it is all about having more and being better than the guy/gal next to you. Essentially we are a country of selfish assholes (just because some people are not doesn't mean this isn't true as a generalization).

European, or Asian, collectivist cultures are frowned upon here because they imply that those who can and have need to care about those who can't and have not. Nowhere else in the world will you find the guy that says that his AR-15, 20k rounds of ammo, and the Bible prepares him for anything that's coming his way. People elsewhere in the world just don't think like that because they know that they cannot survive anything by themselves.

So to bring this back to SF, money rules everything, and that's the way this country is set up, its ingrained in our culture to such a degree that you simply cannot get it out. The only way to escape it is to relocate to some small rural town where there still is a sense of community (or bunk with the Amish/Quakers), or quite literally move to a different country.
 
"The other group of protesters are your typical activists-in-training who use liberal hellholes like San Francisco for training. They can all go pound sand and cry me a river.

Spoken like a true bigot. Let's blame everything that's wrong with the world on a group of people so we can feel better about ourselves.
 
the heat is really not that bad. I really was expecting to suck ass like vegas in the summer but it rarely gets to 100. the humidity makes you sweat easier if you do manual labor outside you do sweat like a whore in church. but over all its not too bad.
See I grew up in San Francisco, and the weather here is way different than the South Bay, you gets lows in the 50s highs in the 70s 98% of the days of the year those few days when it reaches mid to high 80s you start thinking you knew how bad the slaves had it in the south 200 years earlier. "rarely gets to 100" would absolutely kill me... well make me stay indoors with my AC running constantly, and humidity? nuh uh, had a wet blanket incident first time I went to Florida in the summer and it destroyed me even though it wasn't that hot.
 
So to bring this back to SF, money rules everything, and that's the way this country is set up, its ingrained in our culture to such a degree that you simply cannot get it out. The only way to escape it is to relocate to some small rural town where there still is a sense of community (or bunk with the Amish/Quakers), or quite literally move to a different country.

Sure let's just write off SF as a lost cause and all move to Utopia. After all, putting your head in the sand and ignoring a problem is the best way to solve it. While I don't agree with all of the protesters sentiments I think they're serving a valuable purpose, letting everyone else know what's happening here. A solution to the problem of gentrification can only come about if the issue is talked about. I'm sure all the landlord who mandates that tenants have at least 100k income doesn't want the issue talked about, but the rest of us who have hope for a better future do.
 
Sure let's just write off SF as a lost cause and all move to Utopia. After all, putting your head in the sand and ignoring a problem is the best way to solve it. While I don't agree with all of the protesters sentiments I think they're serving a valuable purpose, letting everyone else know what's happening here. A solution to the problem of gentrification can only come about if the issue is talked about.

The thing is that many (most?), myself included, don't see gentrification as a problem. We can talk about it all day, but those who see gentrification as a problem are the ones who need to move out and to Utopia because their world views are irreconcilable with reality.

I embrace gentrification because I personally don't want to live among the poor, the bohemian, the dread-locked hemp wearing pot smoking, etc., I want to live among people who are more like me from a socioeconomic standpoint. If me wanting to move in means that those who have not need to move out, then I am OK with that because that fits with my world view.

The only thing I had going for me is that I am a white male, but I came from nothing and made something out of myself. I have no sympathy for those who choose to forgo making a better life for themselves, and if they are happy with the life they have then then have to accept that they may need to move that type of life elsewhere when those who wield more economic power come in and displace them.
 
The thing is that many (most?), myself included, don't see gentrification as a problem. We can talk about it all day, but those who see gentrification as a problem are the ones who need to move out and to Utopia because their world views are irreconcilable with reality.


This!!! I dont see why people who are successful are looked down upon in SF. Success should be something that is encouraged not frowned upon. People should be encouraged to work hard, get good jobs, and benefit economically from them. Yet, I feel that many people believe that people who are financially successful through hard work are somehow bad people because they want to have nice things for themselves and their families.

As someone who grew up in the ghetto of Inglewood, Ca to a single teen mom with multiple children and yet was able to do well enough in HS to receive a scholarship to attend college I am disappointed that people are implicitly discouraging hard work. Without the belief that I would be able to make it out of the ghetto through hard work I would probably be selling crack to school children right now rather than being the productive member of society that I currently am.

Letting kids dream and aspire to have a better life is something that should NEVER be discouraged. Yet, I feel that in some circles that is indeed the case.
 
See I grew up in San Francisco, and the weather here is way different than the South Bay, you gets lows in the 50s highs in the 70s 98% of the days of the year those few days when it reaches mid to high 80s you start thinking you knew how bad the slaves had it in the south 200 years earlier. "rarely gets to 100" would absolutely kill me... well make me stay indoors with my AC running constantly, and humidity? nuh uh, had a wet blanket incident first time I went to Florida in the summer and it destroyed me even though it wasn't that hot.

SF is indeed cooler than the Southbay and has a climate that varies less throughout the year. That being said the ability of the human body to adapt is quite impressive. I moved to Houston in July which is one of the hottest months of the year here. The first week or so the heat was noticeable when I was outdoors but with every passing day my body quickly adjusted to it. Is it warmer than the Bay Area, absolutely, does it stop me from being outside, not at all.
 
don't see gentrification as a problem.
Because it's not, it's won't happen just because 500 Google employees decide to live in a city of about 750,000 people. There are so many fricking rent control laws in the city that it is literally impossible to gentrify a neighborhood anywhere in the city unless it's new construction in which case it isn't gentrification anymore.
 
Manhatten would be all teepees without Wall Street.
The NYSE came about in 1817 and made Manhatten into the world's financial sector capital. Without it Manhatten would just be another inner city borough. Not even sure how anyone could possibly argue otherwise.

New York has always been the largest city in the country, I think before we were even a country. Manhattan was first and foremost a port that sat at the mouth of many important inland rivers.

So Wall Street came to Manhattan, the most populated area in the country, not the other way around. If you had your facts straight you'd wonder how you could ever try to argue otherwise.
 
Spoken like a true bigot. Let's blame everything that's wrong with the world on a group of people so we can feel better about ourselves.

Great job blowing a statement out of proportion.

After all, putting your head in the sand and ignoring a problem is the best way to solve it. While I don't agree with all of the protesters sentiments I think they're serving a valuable purpose, letting everyone else know what's happening here.

There's nothing wrong. The landlords nor Google are doing anything illegal. You're pulling the gentrification card when this is simple economics taking over. The higher paid folks (the tech workers) are being spun as the "elite" and you're just looking for your rallying cause against the "1%ers".

A solution to the problem of gentrification can only come about if the issue is talked about. I'm sure all the landlord who mandates that tenants have at least 100k income doesn't want the issue talked about, but the rest of us who have hope for a better future do.

There's a difference between landlords making a statement and putting in print a tenancy requirement of making $100k/yr. Again, this is you just rah-rahing over the alleged "elite 1%ers" pushing the "poor working man" out through "gentrification" when it really amounts to landlords performing legal property management steps to ride the prevailing market winds.
 
Great job blowing a statement out of proportion.



There's nothing wrong. The landlords nor Google are doing anything illegal. You're pulling the gentrification card when this is simple economics taking over. The higher paid folks (the tech workers) are being spun as the "elite" and you're just looking for your rallying cause against the "1%ers".



There's a difference between landlords making a statement and putting in print a tenancy requirement of making $100k/yr. Again, this is you just rah-rahing over the alleged "elite 1%ers" pushing the "poor working man" out through "gentrification" when it really amounts to landlords performing legal property management steps to ride the prevailing market winds.

You seem fixed on this idea that I'm ranting against the 1% when that's not the case. I don't think people on the buses even qualify to be in the 1 percent. The people who are getting kicked out of their leases are not in new construction buildings. They are in pre 1978 buildings. I don't pretend to have a solution that's fair to everyone but it seems to me that tenants are getting the short end of the stick much too often. If everyone stops talking about this situation then it will just get brushed under the rug.
 
Sure let's just write off SF as a lost cause and all move to Utopia. After all, putting your head in the sand and ignoring a problem is the best way to solve it. While I don't agree with all of the protesters sentiments I think they're serving a valuable purpose, letting everyone else know what's happening here. A solution to the problem of gentrification can only come about if the issue is talked about. I'm sure all the landlord who mandates that tenants have at least 100k income doesn't want the issue talked about, but the rest of us who have hope for a better future do.

They aren't serving any purpose other than spotlighting the fact that they are largely idiots. A bunch of you keep using the term Gentrification like it is a bad thing. Since when has a shift "UP" in property value and general wealth ever been BAD? I fail to understand this anti wealth pro poor mentality. As I said in an earlier post, if you rent you have Zero expectations of being able to live somewhere permanently. If you want to live there permanently, Buy or shut up. Renters live month to month, I know I rented for years. If you don't like how things are being handled either rent/services the general decline/incline of the surrounding area...you MOVE. It really is that simple.
 
They aren't serving any purpose other than spotlighting the fact that they are largely idiots. A bunch of you keep using the term Gentrification like it is a bad thing. Since when has a shift "UP" in property value and general wealth ever been BAD? I fail to understand this anti wealth pro poor mentality. As I said in an earlier post, if you rent you have Zero expectations of being able to live somewhere permanently. If you want to live there permanently, Buy or shut up. Renters live month to month, I know I rented for years. If you don't like how things are being handled either rent/services the general decline/incline of the surrounding area...you MOVE. It really is that simple.



AMEN!!!!!!!!

I dont know why its such a hard concept to understand.
 
You seem fixed on this idea that I'm ranting against the 1% when that's not the case. I don't think people on the buses even qualify to be in the 1 percent. The people who are getting kicked out of their leases are not in new construction buildings. They are in pre 1978 buildings. I don't pretend to have a solution that's fair to everyone but it seems to me that tenants are getting the short end of the stick much too often. If everyone stops talking about this situation then it will just get brushed under the rug.

You are acting like following the letter of the law isn't fair. If that is your claim, you are just a typical blowhard protesting San Francisco hippy. If you feel the law is fair, there isn't a "solution", economics (or as what the poor have named gentrification) is merely taking place. Rents are moving up all over the Bay Area though you don't see residents elsewhere crying and demanding legal action. No, just the typical blowhards in Hippyfrisco.
 
They aren't serving any purpose other than spotlighting the fact that they are largely idiots. A bunch of you keep using the term Gentrification like it is a bad thing. Since when has a shift "UP" in property value and general wealth ever been BAD? I fail to understand this anti wealth pro poor mentality. As I said in an earlier post, if you rent you have Zero expectations of being able to live somewhere permanently. If you want to live there permanently, Buy or shut up. Renters live month to month, I know I rented for years. If you don't like how things are being handled either rent/services the general decline/incline of the surrounding area...you MOVE. It really is that simple.

Instead of bettering themselves they will whine incessantly or "protest" to try to gather sympathy or their "plight". If that does not work they will try to gin up support by manufacturing some controversy. http://www.cnet.com/news/fake-google-employees-fight-with-protesters-some-wish-was-true/

Can't fix stupid.. and in these parts there's plenty enough to go around.
 
Its funny to me that you used Houston as an example because I moved to Houston from the South bay this past July and I used much of the same logic that you used to justify my move. I had spent a little more than half my life living in the Bay Area (the rest in Los Angeles) Graduated from high school and college in the Bay Area. Living in California its all I had ever known so for the longest time I assumed that was where I was gonna live the rest of my life.

It was not until the discrepancy between the cost of living California and everywhere else in the country did I start looking for jobs all across the country (even with the same exact income you are better off in 95% of the country) I was losing hope when I got a job offer which offered me a nice raise (~20%) in Houston which was a WAY lower cost of living in a state without income taxes. I took the offer having never set foot in the state and was here just over 3 weeks later. Its been a big change but I have not regretted it.

When I told people I was moving they all told me I was dumb and that I would come running back and that has not happened and I strongly doubt I will ever live in California again. 2.2 million people live in the city of Houston, if it really sucked that many people would not live here and it would not have the 2nd largest number of fortune 500 companies headquartered here after NYC.

I moved the opposite direction in August (Houston->San Ramon). My mover said he'd done 28 moves from CA to TX that summer and one (mine) in the other direction. Houston was home for 16 years, but I'd had enough. Enjoy the heat, Mosquitos and low cost of living. I'll take crippling taxes, great public schools and amazing weather.
 
I moved the opposite direction in August (Houston->San Ramon). My mover said he'd done 28 moves from CA to TX that summer and one (mine) in the other direction. Houston was home for 16 years, but I'd had enough. Enjoy the heat, Mosquitos and low cost of living. I'll take crippling taxes, great public schools and amazing weather.

Well 2 of 3 ain't bad... :p
 
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