4 ms·

I think SV first needs to solve its own problems: transportation, infrastructure, homelessness, housing cost.

by jkot 10y ago

hueving 10y ago
SV has these costs because people come here to work for tech companies solving tech problems. A great way to eliminate those costs would be to force everyone to work on those lame problems with known technical solutions (at which point anyone looking for a technical rather than political challenge would just leave). The solution to housing problems is to build more housing. Period. There is nothing interesting there. The only reason it hasn't been done is because it's blocked politically by current home owners that "don't want the feel to change".
- flubert 10y ago
  >The solution to housing problems is to build more housing. Period. There is nothing interesting there. The only reason it hasn't been done is because it's blocked politically by current home owners that "don't want the feel to change". The interesting problem would seem to be convincing home owners to want the change. Here's one innovative perspective on the issue: https://www.dartmouth.edu/~wfischel/Papers/00-04.PDF https://www.dartmouth.edu/~wfischel/Papers/00-04.PDF Certainly there could be others as well. It seems like a lot of people are locked-in to the position that nothing can change unless we get a political coalition together to force the existing homeowners into a situation they don't desire (without properly compensating them). What has been/could be done to make them partners in the growth instead? What kind of new financial structures/contracts could be invented to deal with the types of issues that have been traditionally solved with "eminent domain"?
  - hueving 10y ago
    >What kind of new financial structures/contracts could be invented to deal with the types of issues that have been traditionally solved with "eminent domain"? True, there is room to innovate there, but that's mainly political work. As a software engineer I have next to 0 interest doing that.
    - flubert 10y ago
      >that's mainly political work I was hoping to inspire thoughts of non-political solutions involving input and new ideas from economics, finance, sociology, etc.. Maybe some of these new ideas could come from someone with a software engineering background looking at things from a new perspective (networking theory, distributed systems, machine learning, etc.).
      - hueving 10y ago
        Economics and sociology require politics for anything meaningful to happen. You might be able to develop some interesting financial instruments, but they will still require politics to get them adopted. What attracts me to tech is the fact that I can build things without regard to all of that. I'll admit it's selfish, but frankly life is too short to waste on something I don't care for.
        flubert 10y ago
        I guess I've failed to express myself adequately, I'm looking for ideas that minimize the politics needed to get them adopted. Like it doesn't take politics to propose a $1 trillion buyout of least expensive homes in SF, which you would then use as a starting point to get the zoning laws changed to enable higher density construction.
        hueving 10y ago
        >Like it doesn't take politics to propose a $1 trillion buyout of least expensive homes in SF, It takes politics to actually push the idea to anywhere beyond the back of a napkin exercise. Once you even go into the question of who should pay for it, that's politics.
EnderMB 10y ago
This was my first thought. A friend of mine recently left London for a gig in SV, and I've heard nothing but complaints. The weather is lovely, but rent is insane, his new apartment is a shithole (and that's coming from a Londoner), and the commute is insane. As an outsider looking in, it makes me laugh to see a bunch of smart people "changing the world" when they live quite uncomfortable lives themselves. I'm sure it's fulfilling to work on hard problems and try to create cool products and services, but it's surprising to see so much brain-power and willing in one place that is in desperate need of what appear to be quite basic services.

I think SV first needs to solve its own problems: transportation, infrastructure, homelessness, housing cost.

by jkot 10y ago

I think SV first needs to solve its own problems: transportation, infrastructure, homelessness, housing cost.

SV has these costs because people come here to work for tech companies solving tech problems. A great way to eliminate those costs would be to force everyone to work on those lame problems with known technical solutions (at which point anyone looking for a technical rather than political challenge would just leave). The solution to housing problems is to build more housing. Period. There is nothing interesting there. The only reason it hasn't been done is because it's blocked politically by current home owners that "don't want the feel to change".

flubert 10y ago
>The solution to housing problems is to build more housing. Period. There is nothing interesting there. The only reason it hasn't been done is because it's blocked politically by current home owners that "don't want the feel to change". The interesting problem would seem to be convincing home owners to want the change. Here's one innovative perspective on the issue: https://www.dartmouth.edu/~wfischel/Papers/00-04.PDF https://www.dartmouth.edu/~wfischel/Papers/00-04.PDF Certainly there could be others as well. It seems like a lot of people are locked-in to the position that nothing can change unless we get a political coalition together to force the existing homeowners into a situation they don't desire (without properly compensating them). What has been/could be done to make them partners in the growth instead? What kind of new financial structures/contracts could be invented to deal with the types of issues that have been traditionally solved with "eminent domain"?
- hueving 10y ago
  >What kind of new financial structures/contracts could be invented to deal with the types of issues that have been traditionally solved with "eminent domain"? True, there is room to innovate there, but that's mainly political work. As a software engineer I have next to 0 interest doing that.
  - flubert 10y ago
    >that's mainly political work I was hoping to inspire thoughts of non-political solutions involving input and new ideas from economics, finance, sociology, etc.. Maybe some of these new ideas could come from someone with a software engineering background looking at things from a new perspective (networking theory, distributed systems, machine learning, etc.).
    - hueving 10y ago
      Economics and sociology require politics for anything meaningful to happen. You might be able to develop some interesting financial instruments, but they will still require politics to get them adopted. What attracts me to tech is the fact that I can build things without regard to all of that. I'll admit it's selfish, but frankly life is too short to waste on something I don't care for.
      - flubert 10y ago
        I guess I've failed to express myself adequately, I'm looking for ideas that minimize the politics needed to get them adopted. Like it doesn't take politics to propose a $1 trillion buyout of least expensive homes in SF, which you would then use as a starting point to get the zoning laws changed to enable higher density construction.
        hueving 10y ago
        >Like it doesn't take politics to propose a $1 trillion buyout of least expensive homes in SF, It takes politics to actually push the idea to anywhere beyond the back of a napkin exercise. Once you even go into the question of who should pay for it, that's politics.

EnderMB 10y ago

This was my first thought. A friend of mine recently left London for a gig in SV, and I've heard nothing but complaints. The weather is lovely, but rent is insane, his new apartment is a shithole (and that's coming from a Londoner), and the commute is insane. As an outsider looking in, it makes me laugh to see a bunch of smart people "changing the world" when they live quite uncomfortable lives themselves. I'm sure it's fulfilling to work on hard problems and try to create cool products and services, but it's surprising to see so much brain-power and willing in one place that is in desperate need of what appear to be quite basic services.