Facebook’s Answer to Silicon Valley Housing Crunch: Build Apartments

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Could you imagine living in an apartment owned by Facebook? I know the housing situation in Silicon Valley is tight but damn, apartment owned by Facebook just seems really weird. This would have been better back in the MySpace days.

So in an effort to shore up city support, Facebook earlier this month made an unusual pledge for a tech company. It would build at least 1,500 units of housing, meant not specifically for Facebook employees, but for the general public. The novel move is a gesture intended to address a growing frustration in the region: too many workers, too few homes.
 
If the simple economics are correct (too many high paid workers drives up the price level) this has the potential to push back against rent increases.

If there really is a "crowding out" from wealthier tech employees, this sort of approach seems to follow the classic "Causers of negative externalities should compensate those who suffer from them" solution.
 
Reminds me of the corporate arcologies you could build in Sim City 2000.
 
We pay you in Facebook Store credits, and you buy everything you need from us, and pay us rent. Hmm... Where have I heard this before... (mining towns...)
 
So they are going to have cameras in every corner, mirror, vent, and door lock. Then they are going to sell all the live footage to advertisers who can see how you live your life.
 
scojer said:
So they are going to have cameras in every corner, mirror, vent, and door lock. Then they are going to sell all the live footage to advertisers who can see how you live your life.
Click to expand...

Yes, so that they can then sell you products through the Facebook Store, so that they can spend the money on further research into ad placement!
 
More people without other proper supporting infrastructure! Thanks Facebook!
 
malachy said:
Next up: the Facebook Company Store.
Click to expand...
You read my mind! The difference being, "sold my soul to the company store" would take on a meaning much closer in meaning, since the currency would be your life's data...as well as normal currency.
 
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And the currency shall be... FaceCoin!!! I would have also accepted... FaceBux!!!
 
Most major Companies in Asia have Company Housing for there workers so not really anything new. During the Industrial Revolution even Companies in US had whole towns built around there Factories all Financed by the them.
 
While in the US Navy, I lived in Navy housing, shopped at a Navy grocery store and a Navy department store and rode a Navy bus to my Navy job. For vacation, I flew standby on a Navy jet to a Navy resort in Hawaii. I wore Navy clothes. Navy.
 
There have been major uprising's in US history over this very thing. I watched a good documentary on the mining towns and companies in the US. Pretty nasty and corrupt practices of basically not having to pay your employees real money, because you make them pay you for rent, and make them acquire any goods they need from the company store. I mean, we've come a long way since then, and a lot of laws would likely prevent the same scale of corruption, but I still see this sort of thing as having HIGH potential for corruption. If it isn't already highly regulated, it should be. I don't think there's anything wrong with providing housing to potential employees, but there's a line in there somewhere that shouldn't be crossed. I don't know if Facebook is a company that I trust not to cross lines.
 
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