5 ms·

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

28 points by cookscar 10y ago

iKlsR 10y ago
Can people stop posting articles nobody can read.
- aeharding 10y ago
  Click the "web" button under the article title (in the comments page), click link in Google.
  - cdbattags 10y ago
    Thank you for this!
  - NKCSS 10y ago
    no 'web' button for me (.nl), but if I just put a questionmark in front of the url (e.g. search it on google), you can click the first link :)
  - dmix 10y ago
    Not everyone knows this. The OP made a fair comment. It's better to upvote him to spread awareness for this feature. I visit daily and only noticed it recently.
  - chinathrow 10y ago
    The web button failed me for the first time, no luck via Google.
- at-fates-hands 10y ago
  Or you could take 10 seconds and google the article title and then click on the first result - no paywall.
- MasterScrat 10y ago
  This extension works: https://github.com/lakario/wait-google-sent-me https://github.com/lakario/wait-google-sent-me
- kuschku 10y ago
  This link surpasses the paywall: http://www.wsj.com/article_email/facebooks-answer-to-silicon-valley-housing-crunch-build-apartments-1469534402-lMyQjAxMTA2MTI2NjUyOTY4Wj http://www.wsj.com/article_email/facebooks-answer-to-silicon...
ghostDancer 10y ago
A lot of companies used to build housing for their workers, some even had supermarkets for them. I know this time they are building for others too, marketing and PR, but looks we are learning from the past.
pbnjay 10y ago
Is this a resurgence of the "company town" of yore? Facebook now has work space, restaurants (nee "free meals"), plenty of other amenities (things like laundry, childcare, haircuts, massages, etc). Add in housing and you've basically recreated a mill town centered on tech.
- cafard 10y ago
  Code fifty lines, and what do you get?/Another day older and deeper in debt...
  - _petronius 10y ago
    I have a feeling you'll like this Stan Rogers tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDkmVo2fg4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDkmVo2fg4
- maxerickson 10y ago
  Not really. It might be if they built it in some isolated part of Nebraska.
- wmil 10y ago
  The problem is that cities have become so opposed to allowing construction of middle class rental units that it takes the concerted effort of a multi-billion dollar corporation to build any.
  - matwood 10y ago
    It's also not always quite that simple. My city is trying to pass a moratorium on residential building permits because the infrastructure is simply not built out enough to handle all the people moving to town. Yeah, yeah, public transportation, etc... but all of that takes time and money to build. The 2 lane road leading to my house is already overloaded and a builder is wanting to build another 2000 houses at the end of the road. Instead of waiting and relying on the state to improve the road, maybe we should do a better job at shifting the infrastructure costs to the builder when they put up a new apartment building or neighborhood.
asuffield 10y ago
(Tedious disclaimer: my opinion only, not speaking for anybody else. I'm an SRE at Google.) Google's been trying to do this for years, but the Mountain View city council keep blocking it. :(
- asdfologist 10y ago
  That's not an opinion... You made a statement that's either true or false.
  - GeneralMayhem 10y ago
    The sad emoticon expresses an opinion.
  - Cursuviam 10y ago
    It is a statement that doesn't indicate how much Google is trying, and the perception of whether someone is trying to do something can be an opinion sometimes. For example, if I am trying to get healthy by only eating carbs, some people might have the opinion that I'm not even trying.
- parthdesai 10y ago
  Hey, do you mind if i ask you a question? How can one prepare to be be a good SRE and what are absolute essentials to know before one can apply at google for the position of SRE?
  - ajmarsh 10y ago
    I'd start with this. https://www.amazon.com/Site-Reliability-Engineering-Production-Systems/dp/149192912X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469544957&sr=8-1&keywords=site+reliability+engineering https://www.amazon.com/Site-Reliability-Engineering-Producti...
- drewg123 10y ago
  Mountain view is not sure what they want. All they are sure of is that they don't want anything new. I rented a house in Monta Loma (across the 101 from Google when I worked there). The same neighbors would on one hand complain that building housing in North Bayshore was a terrible idea, because the people there would stay there, and not contribute the the Mountain View economy. And on the other hand, they'd complain that development there was sure to increase traffic because more people would be driving to/from N. Bayshore. I tried to argue that it would decrease traffic, because people would no longer be driving in from San Jose, the east bay, or Gilroy. These were the same people that complained that Google giving free lunches hurt local restaurants, and in the same discussion complained about all the traffic Google generates and how hard it was to find a place to park on Castro. I'm so glad I moved away.
gist 10y ago
Ah watch out for the new headquarters building curse. https://steveblank.com/2009/05/15/supermac-war-story-11-the-curse-of-a-new-building/ https://steveblank.com/2009/05/15/supermac-war-story-11-the-...
elgabogringo 10y ago
I know this comment will get downvoted, but I'm going to say it anyway because I think it's true. I see in the article how 10-15% of the units will be reserved for "low income". I understand why they do this. If they didn't, it would never get approval from the necessary zoning authority. However, I think it's a mistake. When people think "low income" they usually think of poignant cases of single mothers trying to raise kids, but in my experience that's not as common as we think. I live in an SF building where I'd estimate at least 10% of the residents are retired. I think most are on Social Security and using Section 8. I know my neighbor is because she doesn't speak much English (she's Russian) and she brings me her mail to read. I'm guessing the other retirees (almost all Russian immigrants) are in the same boat. In my opinion, if retirees need public assistance, they should live in a lower-cost area like Livermore, Gilroy, or Santa Rosa, not one of the most expensive neighborhoods in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Heck, I'd love to live in those areas if my job didn't require me to be in downtown SF every day. But that would make too much sense. Instead, every new housing unit has to have some portion reserved for "low income" so the local politicians can have some currency to spread around among their supporters - and if you don't think they do this you are kidding yourself. Constantly taking 10-15% of supply and restricting it to low income just raises housing costs for everyone else - and it's a double-whammy too because it's our tax dollars funding this unnecessarily lavish lifestyle (and $3K/month for a studio is lavish - there's no getting around it.) If you can't afford to live in a certain level of housing in a certain area at market prices, then you shouldn't live there, you should live somewhere cheaper. If the people companies want to hire can't afford to live within a reasonable distance then companies should pay more. If they can't pay more they should leave. Companies and jobs leaving will be the only way to lower demand and prices - and probably the only way to wake leaders up and get them to address our poor housing policies.
- elgabogringo 10y ago
  And I've been over by where FB is building the new apartments. It's nice. Lots of salt ponds around a hilly park that used to be a dump (hence the hill.) There's an old water treatment facility which I think still operates. There's a bit of a smell, thought I couldn't tell if that was from the facility or the wetlands. All told, it's a nice area and I'm guessing the dump, sewage treatment, and occasional smell are the reason people haven't built here before.
jumprightin 10y ago
Perhaps FB/Google/Etc should subsidize the cost of employees purchasing property (similar to tenured track profs at Stanford) until they reach a critical mass of voters that can affect changes to allow denser housing.
dangerboysteve 10y ago
If the rents they charge employees are well below the market rates, won't the ISR crack down on this as a taxable benefit?
msoad 10y ago
There area bunch of new apartments built near Facebook campus[1]. Those are not cheap but are much more affordable than actual Menlo Park. The reason Menlo Park allows building those new apartments is because Menlo Park has a serious segregation problem. North side of 101 is mostly black and latino communities and they usually don't have any representatives in the city hall and don't get involved with the proposals much. So the people of rich side of the city shoot down any construction near their homes but approve anything on this side so they can get the taxes come in to make their neighborhood even nicer. This new proposal is in this side of 101 again. They're going to make this side of Menlo Park very crowded and keep their nice homes and probably enjoy even higher property values. [1] http://www.777hamilton.com/ http://www.777hamilton.com/
- drewg123 10y ago
  I love how their cover photo is of somebody in front of a horribly run down building with rust & peeling paint. That really makes me want to live there!

28 points by cookscar 10y ago

iKlsR 10y ago

Can people stop posting articles nobody can read.

aeharding 10y ago
Click the "web" button under the article title (in the comments page), click link in Google.
- cdbattags 10y ago
  Thank you for this!
- NKCSS 10y ago
  no 'web' button for me (.nl), but if I just put a questionmark in front of the url (e.g. search it on google), you can click the first link :)
- dmix 10y ago
  Not everyone knows this. The OP made a fair comment. It's better to upvote him to spread awareness for this feature. I visit daily and only noticed it recently.
- chinathrow 10y ago
  The web button failed me for the first time, no luck via Google.
at-fates-hands 10y ago
Or you could take 10 seconds and google the article title and then click on the first result - no paywall.
MasterScrat 10y ago
This extension works: https://github.com/lakario/wait-google-sent-me https://github.com/lakario/wait-google-sent-me
kuschku 10y ago
This link surpasses the paywall: http://www.wsj.com/article_email/facebooks-answer-to-silicon-valley-housing-crunch-build-apartments-1469534402-lMyQjAxMTA2MTI2NjUyOTY4Wj http://www.wsj.com/article_email/facebooks-answer-to-silicon...

ghostDancer 10y ago

A lot of companies used to build housing for their workers, some even had supermarkets for them. I know this time they are building for others too, marketing and PR, but looks we are learning from the past.

pbnjay 10y ago

Is this a resurgence of the "company town" of yore? Facebook now has work space, restaurants (nee "free meals"), plenty of other amenities (things like laundry, childcare, haircuts, massages, etc). Add in housing and you've basically recreated a mill town centered on tech.

cafard 10y ago
Code fifty lines, and what do you get?/Another day older and deeper in debt...
- _petronius 10y ago
  I have a feeling you'll like this Stan Rogers tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDkmVo2fg4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDkmVo2fg4
maxerickson 10y ago
Not really. It might be if they built it in some isolated part of Nebraska.
wmil 10y ago
The problem is that cities have become so opposed to allowing construction of middle class rental units that it takes the concerted effort of a multi-billion dollar corporation to build any.
- matwood 10y ago
  It's also not always quite that simple. My city is trying to pass a moratorium on residential building permits because the infrastructure is simply not built out enough to handle all the people moving to town. Yeah, yeah, public transportation, etc... but all of that takes time and money to build. The 2 lane road leading to my house is already overloaded and a builder is wanting to build another 2000 houses at the end of the road. Instead of waiting and relying on the state to improve the road, maybe we should do a better job at shifting the infrastructure costs to the builder when they put up a new apartment building or neighborhood.

asuffield 10y ago

(Tedious disclaimer: my opinion only, not speaking for anybody else. I'm an SRE at Google.) Google's been trying to do this for years, but the Mountain View city council keep blocking it. :(

asdfologist 10y ago
That's not an opinion... You made a statement that's either true or false.
- GeneralMayhem 10y ago
  The sad emoticon expresses an opinion.
- Cursuviam 10y ago
  It is a statement that doesn't indicate how much Google is trying, and the perception of whether someone is trying to do something can be an opinion sometimes. For example, if I am trying to get healthy by only eating carbs, some people might have the opinion that I'm not even trying.
parthdesai 10y ago
Hey, do you mind if i ask you a question? How can one prepare to be be a good SRE and what are absolute essentials to know before one can apply at google for the position of SRE?
- ajmarsh 10y ago
  I'd start with this. https://www.amazon.com/Site-Reliability-Engineering-Production-Systems/dp/149192912X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469544957&sr=8-1&keywords=site+reliability+engineering https://www.amazon.com/Site-Reliability-Engineering-Producti...
drewg123 10y ago
Mountain view is not sure what they want. All they are sure of is that they don't want anything new. I rented a house in Monta Loma (across the 101 from Google when I worked there). The same neighbors would on one hand complain that building housing in North Bayshore was a terrible idea, because the people there would stay there, and not contribute the the Mountain View economy. And on the other hand, they'd complain that development there was sure to increase traffic because more people would be driving to/from N. Bayshore. I tried to argue that it would decrease traffic, because people would no longer be driving in from San Jose, the east bay, or Gilroy. These were the same people that complained that Google giving free lunches hurt local restaurants, and in the same discussion complained about all the traffic Google generates and how hard it was to find a place to park on Castro. I'm so glad I moved away.

gist 10y ago

Ah watch out for the new headquarters building curse. https://steveblank.com/2009/05/15/supermac-war-story-11-the-curse-of-a-new-building/ https://steveblank.com/2009/05/15/supermac-war-story-11-the-...

elgabogringo 10y ago

I know this comment will get downvoted, but I'm going to say it anyway because I think it's true. I see in the article how 10-15% of the units will be reserved for "low income". I understand why they do this. If they didn't, it would never get approval from the necessary zoning authority. However, I think it's a mistake. When people think "low income" they usually think of poignant cases of single mothers trying to raise kids, but in my experience that's not as common as we think. I live in an SF building where I'd estimate at least 10% of the residents are retired. I think most are on Social Security and using Section 8. I know my neighbor is because she doesn't speak much English (she's Russian) and she brings me her mail to read. I'm guessing the other retirees (almost all Russian immigrants) are in the same boat. In my opinion, if retirees need public assistance, they should live in a lower-cost area like Livermore, Gilroy, or Santa Rosa, not one of the most expensive neighborhoods in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Heck, I'd love to live in those areas if my job didn't require me to be in downtown SF every day. But that would make too much sense. Instead, every new housing unit has to have some portion reserved for "low income" so the local politicians can have some currency to spread around among their supporters - and if you don't think they do this you are kidding yourself. Constantly taking 10-15% of supply and restricting it to low income just raises housing costs for everyone else - and it's a double-whammy too because it's our tax dollars funding this unnecessarily lavish lifestyle (and $3K/month for a studio is lavish - there's no getting around it.) If you can't afford to live in a certain level of housing in a certain area at market prices, then you shouldn't live there, you should live somewhere cheaper. If the people companies want to hire can't afford to live within a reasonable distance then companies should pay more. If they can't pay more they should leave. Companies and jobs leaving will be the only way to lower demand and prices - and probably the only way to wake leaders up and get them to address our poor housing policies.

elgabogringo 10y ago
And I've been over by where FB is building the new apartments. It's nice. Lots of salt ponds around a hilly park that used to be a dump (hence the hill.) There's an old water treatment facility which I think still operates. There's a bit of a smell, thought I couldn't tell if that was from the facility or the wetlands. All told, it's a nice area and I'm guessing the dump, sewage treatment, and occasional smell are the reason people haven't built here before.

jumprightin 10y ago

Perhaps FB/Google/Etc should subsidize the cost of employees purchasing property (similar to tenured track profs at Stanford) until they reach a critical mass of voters that can affect changes to allow denser housing.

dangerboysteve 10y ago

If the rents they charge employees are well below the market rates, won't the ISR crack down on this as a taxable benefit?

msoad 10y ago

There area bunch of new apartments built near Facebook campus[1]. Those are not cheap but are much more affordable than actual Menlo Park. The reason Menlo Park allows building those new apartments is because Menlo Park has a serious segregation problem. North side of 101 is mostly black and latino communities and they usually don't have any representatives in the city hall and don't get involved with the proposals much. So the people of rich side of the city shoot down any construction near their homes but approve anything on this side so they can get the taxes come in to make their neighborhood even nicer. This new proposal is in this side of 101 again. They're going to make this side of Menlo Park very crowded and keep their nice homes and probably enjoy even higher property values. [1] http://www.777hamilton.com/ http://www.777hamilton.com/

drewg123 10y ago
I love how their cover photo is of somebody in front of a horribly run down building with rust & peeling paint. That really makes me want to live there!