45 ms·

Go sit in on a meeting in Mountain View or Cupertino. Existing home owners don't want it and the elected admins don't want it. They are happy to foist the probl

by __jal 9y ago

Go sit in on a meeting in Mountain View or Cupertino. Existing home owners don't want it and the elected admins don't want it. They are happy to foist the problem off on, well, just about anywhere else. They want wealthy folks in detached single-family homes, and the fact that they host companies that employ more people than can live there means constant upward pressure on home prices and the tax base. In other words, it is an externality just like pollution that the producers don't want to internalize.

JKCalhoun 9y ago
South San Jose are building condos and apartments (maybe 4 stories tall, skyscrapers only in the "Everything's up-to-date in Kansas City" sort of way). Still, this density of housing is only going to put more pressure on the already strained highways that take people north to the jobs. Next year the article will read, "California's Commuting Crisis Reaches a 'Breaking Point'."
- sbov 9y ago
  All of those, plus a mini mall for good measure, on land that used to be a large source of tech jobs for the surrounding area. How many mini malls does a suburb really need? I have a friend-of-a-friend who used to work for a big company decommissioning these old campuses. He claimed they always pushed heavily for commercial because there are fewer lawsuits related to groundwater contamination and such.
  - ac29 9y ago
    > How many mini malls does a suburb really need? A lot of people live in the Bay Area. The 9 county area has 7.68 million people [0], enough that it would be the 102nd (of 234) most populus country in the world if it were its own country [1]. Countries with similar populations include Switzerland, Israel, and Hong Kong (all relatively small and dense). Anecdotally, I dont see much vacancy in commercial/retail real estate (mini malls or otherwise) in the Bay Area, and with nearly 8 million people living here, there is an obvious need for quite a bit of commercial space. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_(United_Nations) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_populatio...
    - sbov 9y ago
      I'm well aware of the population of the bay area. I speak to South San Jose because I was born and lived there for close to 25 years, basically around the corner from the former Cottle IBM plant. I still visit because my parents live in the same house. And from my anecdotal experience when visiting, the older mini malls surrounding it have less foot traffic. Which makes sense, because everyone wants to go to the new shiny places. And it's not like these places were overly crowded in the first place.
joe_the_user 9y ago
Not to mention that the "no new development" position simultaneously has vast amounts of money behind it and can present itself as left wing, even radical. Plus also sound "ecological" (except for the gas spent on two hour commutes but hey look at my "green" lawn). Anarchists in SF don't protest mountain view homeowners, don't demand opening the door to high rises on Potrero Hill but rather block buses taking tech workers to work - morons. Confusion reigns!

by __jal 9y ago

JKCalhoun 9y ago

South San Jose are building condos and apartments (maybe 4 stories tall, skyscrapers only in the "Everything's up-to-date in Kansas City" sort of way). Still, this density of housing is only going to put more pressure on the already strained highways that take people north to the jobs. Next year the article will read, "California's Commuting Crisis Reaches a 'Breaking Point'."

sbov 9y ago
All of those, plus a mini mall for good measure, on land that used to be a large source of tech jobs for the surrounding area. How many mini malls does a suburb really need? I have a friend-of-a-friend who used to work for a big company decommissioning these old campuses. He claimed they always pushed heavily for commercial because there are fewer lawsuits related to groundwater contamination and such.
- ac29 9y ago
  > How many mini malls does a suburb really need? A lot of people live in the Bay Area. The 9 county area has 7.68 million people [0], enough that it would be the 102nd (of 234) most populus country in the world if it were its own country [1]. Countries with similar populations include Switzerland, Israel, and Hong Kong (all relatively small and dense). Anecdotally, I dont see much vacancy in commercial/retail real estate (mini malls or otherwise) in the Bay Area, and with nearly 8 million people living here, there is an obvious need for quite a bit of commercial space. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_(United_Nations) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_populatio...
  - sbov 9y ago
    I'm well aware of the population of the bay area. I speak to South San Jose because I was born and lived there for close to 25 years, basically around the corner from the former Cottle IBM plant. I still visit because my parents live in the same house. And from my anecdotal experience when visiting, the older mini malls surrounding it have less foot traffic. Which makes sense, because everyone wants to go to the new shiny places. And it's not like these places were overly crowded in the first place.

joe_the_user 9y ago

Not to mention that the "no new development" position simultaneously has vast amounts of money behind it and can present itself as left wing, even radical. Plus also sound "ecological" (except for the gas spent on two hour commutes but hey look at my "green" lawn). Anarchists in SF don't protest mountain view homeowners, don't demand opening the door to high rises on Potrero Hill but rather block buses taking tech workers to work - morons. Confusion reigns!