5 ms·
Why are they so unpopular there?
by LandoCalrissian 11y ago
Why are they so unpopular there?
- umanwizard 11y agoSeveral reasons, but I think the main one is filling Seattle with lots of people (programmers) that don't really culturally fit in with the rest of the population. There's also a lot of resentment about rent prices etc., but unlike the Bay Area there is one company (Amazon) for all the anger to be directed at, because Microsoft is far away in the suburbs and everyone else participating in the tech boom is tiny by comparison.
- cesarbs 11y agoWhat would be a cultural fit for Seattle? Seems like such a diverse place.
- umanwizard 11y agoWell, I'm not defending it. I agree it doesn't make sense. I'm just trying to explain. Edit: also, seattle's not that diverse. Most of the centrally located neighborhoods are filled with just three cultural groups: yuppies/programmers, students, and hipsters/artists. You have to get as far away at least as Walligford before you even find something as exotic as families.
- caskance 11y agoIt's what racists say to pretend they're not racist.
- cdcarter 11y agoWell, in this case, one of the big concerns is new Amazon hires pushing families of color out of the central neighborhoods they've historically resided in. The CD is a very traditionally PoC neighborhood (there was recently a GREAT docu about Yesler Terrace housing projects), but it's also very conveniently located for a lot of new tech workers. Rents are skyrocketing.
- umanwizard 11y agoI feel for anyone who can't pay their rent, but the rhetoric that tech employees are "pushing" anyone out misses the mark. Tech employees aren't evicting people or raising their rent. They're finding vacant units, offered at a given price by landlords, and accepting the deal. Yes, those rents are often high -- but the problem emerges from a complex system, not from the deliberate behavior of a specific subgroup of actors.