3 ms·

The center might be 40 miles south, but a lot of those programmers (esp founders, execs and senior engineers) sure love to live in SF proper.

kkylin 10y ago
South Bay has changed a lot too. Even when my family moved there in the late 70s / early 80s, there were still a few orchards left here and there. Almost all condos and town houses now. (Wish I have some pictures to share...)
- ZanyProgrammer 10y ago
  I'd love to go back in time to circa 1980 and drive down ECR from Palo Alto to downtown San Jose. Back when there were blue collar jobs in Santa Clara County.
  - twblalock 10y ago
    > Back when there were blue collar jobs in Santa Clara County. There still are. If you don't think there are blue-collar jobs in Santa Clara county, please explain why restaurants, stores, construction companies, plumbing companies, etc. are able to exist.
    - ZanyProgrammer 10y ago
      I was thinking more of the businesses here that no longer exist. http://wx4.org/to/foam/sp/spins/spins_san_jose_opt.pdf http://wx4.org/to/foam/sp/spins/spins_san_jose_opt.pdf Not so much the churn of retail that most large cities (suburban sprawls in this case) have.
  - kkylin 10y ago
    Not sure this is what you meant by "blue collar," but I was just thinking this morning about driving by the NeXT logo in Fremont, the stretch of Mission connecting 680 to 880. I believe they actually built the cube there, but I could be wrong. (I'm sure someone reading this can confirm or deny that.) Not sure if anyone still assembles computers in the Bay Area anymore.
DrScump 10y ago
People "love to live in SF" because it's currently trendy to live in S.F., especially if you're a newcomer. You generally don't find many people living outside those 17 square miles pining to move there. Its unique amenities (real and perceived) are easy enough to drive or Caltrain or BART to. Then again, I'm perplexed that tech companies feel so driven to base so many of their employees in the Bay Area at all. They could save 20%+ on compensation to employees combined with providing them a better standard of living (and more family-friendly as well) by opening workplace options in Beaverton, Bothell, Boulder or Boise. Plus, those employees would be a bit less immediately accessible for an SV competitor to dangle something shiny in front of.

kkylin 10y ago

South Bay has changed a lot too. Even when my family moved there in the late 70s / early 80s, there were still a few orchards left here and there. Almost all condos and town houses now. (Wish I have some pictures to share...)

ZanyProgrammer 10y ago
I'd love to go back in time to circa 1980 and drive down ECR from Palo Alto to downtown San Jose. Back when there were blue collar jobs in Santa Clara County.
- twblalock 10y ago
  > Back when there were blue collar jobs in Santa Clara County. There still are. If you don't think there are blue-collar jobs in Santa Clara county, please explain why restaurants, stores, construction companies, plumbing companies, etc. are able to exist.
  - ZanyProgrammer 10y ago
    I was thinking more of the businesses here that no longer exist. http://wx4.org/to/foam/sp/spins/spins_san_jose_opt.pdf http://wx4.org/to/foam/sp/spins/spins_san_jose_opt.pdf Not so much the churn of retail that most large cities (suburban sprawls in this case) have.
- kkylin 10y ago
  Not sure this is what you meant by "blue collar," but I was just thinking this morning about driving by the NeXT logo in Fremont, the stretch of Mission connecting 680 to 880. I believe they actually built the cube there, but I could be wrong. (I'm sure someone reading this can confirm or deny that.) Not sure if anyone still assembles computers in the Bay Area anymore.

DrScump 10y ago

People "love to live in SF" because it's currently trendy to live in S.F., especially if you're a newcomer. You generally don't find many people living outside those 17 square miles pining to move there. Its unique amenities (real and perceived) are easy enough to drive or Caltrain or BART to. Then again, I'm perplexed that tech companies feel so driven to base so many of their employees in the Bay Area at all. They could save 20%+ on compensation to employees combined with providing them a better standard of living (and more family-friendly as well) by opening workplace options in Beaverton, Bothell, Boulder or Boise. Plus, those employees would be a bit less immediately accessible for an SV competitor to dangle something shiny in front of.