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I don't know why Bay Area companies don't open more in the East Bay. Many of their employees live there. Less commute. It's baffling why companies are so focu

I don't know why Bay Area companies don't open more in the East Bay. Many of their employees live there. Less commute. It's baffling why companies are so focused on the misery that is Mountain View or Palo Alto.

reducesuffering 9y ago
It is pretty astonishing how little tech companies there are in Hayward, Union City, Fremont, and Milpitas. Tens of thousands of available tech workers commuting to the Valley. Companies opening up there could drastically reduce the extremely constrained traffic, then residents all around the bay would allow for more housing. What's the downside?
- woolvalley 9y ago
  Offices tend to be close to where the CEO lives. Where do CEO and founder types tend to live? West bay. Also an informal poll of coworkers find most of them live in SF or the south bay today.
- fbdjskajxb 9y ago
  There are lots of devs who live in the East Bay (I used to live there myself), but most don’t. The more successful devs (who you are looking to poach) generally live on the other side, and they live there because they don’t want to drive across the bay twice a day. It’s more of a Moneyball move - go for the underappreciated talent you can get cheap. There are companies doing that, but it’s not for everyone. If you get specific with the location, you realize Oakland and Pleasanton, Walnut Creek and Hayward are pretty far apart, so you don’t even get great access to the whole East Bay. You might as well move to Austin, Denver, or Detroit at that point and pay the same price for a better location. Although you might see major companies open offices if there is a critical mass eg. maybe it would make sense for Google or Facebook to open a satellite office in Newark if enough employees are commuting across the Dumbarton. Uber was going to make a big office in Oakland, but apparently canceled those plans.

reducesuffering 9y ago

It is pretty astonishing how little tech companies there are in Hayward, Union City, Fremont, and Milpitas. Tens of thousands of available tech workers commuting to the Valley. Companies opening up there could drastically reduce the extremely constrained traffic, then residents all around the bay would allow for more housing. What's the downside?

woolvalley 9y ago
Offices tend to be close to where the CEO lives. Where do CEO and founder types tend to live? West bay. Also an informal poll of coworkers find most of them live in SF or the south bay today.
fbdjskajxb 9y ago
There are lots of devs who live in the East Bay (I used to live there myself), but most don’t. The more successful devs (who you are looking to poach) generally live on the other side, and they live there because they don’t want to drive across the bay twice a day. It’s more of a Moneyball move - go for the underappreciated talent you can get cheap. There are companies doing that, but it’s not for everyone. If you get specific with the location, you realize Oakland and Pleasanton, Walnut Creek and Hayward are pretty far apart, so you don’t even get great access to the whole East Bay. You might as well move to Austin, Denver, or Detroit at that point and pay the same price for a better location. Although you might see major companies open offices if there is a critical mass eg. maybe it would make sense for Google or Facebook to open a satellite office in Newark if enough employees are commuting across the Dumbarton. Uber was going to make a big office in Oakland, but apparently canceled those plans.