4 ms·

Oh, and one more thing - I'm glad that SB 827 died, despite being pro-housing. This is fundamentally a local decisions, it's just that the locals are being unre

Oh, and one more thing - I'm glad that SB 827 died, despite being pro-housing. This is fundamentally a local decisions, it's just that the locals are being unreasonable. Whenever the state imposes a one-size-fits-all policy, you end up with different problems. San Jose, for example, is building housing like crazy, and tech companies are already building campuses near the new housing, as even Google employees can't afford to buy in Mountain View today. Basic 3 bed / 2 bath houses on < 6,000 ft lots go for over $2.5M in Mountain View. Owner condos are non-existent, rents are on par with Manhattan, but we don't have public transit to move people out into the boroughs. It's not a good situation. I'm lucky because I've been here since the 90's, but today, I'd be forced to leave the bay area given my income level.

jcoffland 8y ago
> San Jose, for example, is building housing like crazy And they have ruined what used to be beautiful farm land and orchards to create ugly urban sprawl punctuated by strip malls and plagued by violent crime. There's a very good reason San Jose, not San Francisco, was the site of the first major European settlement on the West Coast. Aside from having fantastic weather year round, San Jose was once beautiful. Few would argue that now. I know people need jobs and housing but unrestrained urban sprawl is a terrible solution to that problem.
- quotemstr 8y ago
  It'll be beautiful once again one day: imagine vines growing over the scattered, silent ruins of our decadent civilization.
  - jcoffland 8y ago
    The Romans probably thought they would be the last civilisation too.
- epistasis 8y ago
  San Jose was ruined when suburban sprawl ripped out all the orchards. Or it was ruined when the orchards replaced the prior natural beauty with industrial agriculture and rigid rows of trees. There is no urban sprawl in San Jose, it's all ugly suburbs.
- Fins 8y ago
  San Jose looks anything but urban. It's a big boring suburb, just like everything else between Gilroy and SF.
  - astrange 8y ago
    No way, our suburbs have way better restaurants than any other suburbs. Where else in the US are you going to find thirty different ramen shops?
    - Fins 8y ago
      Only if you count Napa as a suburb, too. Otherwise, SFBA's opinion of its restaurants is slightly exaggerated.
- astrange 8y ago
  The farm land was ruined in 1950, not in 2018. That's when it was all paved over to build single-family houses. And "urban" is the opposite of "sprawl"; YIMBYs are looking for infill and walkable development, which will eventually end sprawl… maybe. You might want to check out some Apple Park drone videos - it's gone and time traveled back to 1940, and only cost like ten billion dollars!
redditmigrant 8y ago
I think the local control approach has absolutely utterly failed. And we have had plenty of time for local governments to adapt, but they haven't. So now its probably time to take away local control. People won't learn unless there is a change in incentives or consequences.
namlem 8y ago
Local governments have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are incapable of addressing this problem. State intervention is the only way.
masonic 8y ago
tech companies are already building campuses near the new housing Where are you seeing such construction? (And if you're rooting for the land between San Carlos St and Santa Clara St. east of the railway to be an employee laden Googleplex, take a good look at 280 during rush hours now even without events at the Arena). Google is buying those parcels because the city of San Jose is corrupt and selling at a fraction of their value, just like they tried to do when those were earmarked for an A's ballpark. That doesn't mean they will use it for dense office space.

jcoffland 8y ago

> San Jose, for example, is building housing like crazy And they have ruined what used to be beautiful farm land and orchards to create ugly urban sprawl punctuated by strip malls and plagued by violent crime. There's a very good reason San Jose, not San Francisco, was the site of the first major European settlement on the West Coast. Aside from having fantastic weather year round, San Jose was once beautiful. Few would argue that now. I know people need jobs and housing but unrestrained urban sprawl is a terrible solution to that problem.

quotemstr 8y ago
It'll be beautiful once again one day: imagine vines growing over the scattered, silent ruins of our decadent civilization.
- jcoffland 8y ago
  The Romans probably thought they would be the last civilisation too.
epistasis 8y ago
San Jose was ruined when suburban sprawl ripped out all the orchards. Or it was ruined when the orchards replaced the prior natural beauty with industrial agriculture and rigid rows of trees. There is no urban sprawl in San Jose, it's all ugly suburbs.
Fins 8y ago
San Jose looks anything but urban. It's a big boring suburb, just like everything else between Gilroy and SF.
- astrange 8y ago
  No way, our suburbs have way better restaurants than any other suburbs. Where else in the US are you going to find thirty different ramen shops?
  - Fins 8y ago
    Only if you count Napa as a suburb, too. Otherwise, SFBA's opinion of its restaurants is slightly exaggerated.
astrange 8y ago
The farm land was ruined in 1950, not in 2018. That's when it was all paved over to build single-family houses. And "urban" is the opposite of "sprawl"; YIMBYs are looking for infill and walkable development, which will eventually end sprawl… maybe. You might want to check out some Apple Park drone videos - it's gone and time traveled back to 1940, and only cost like ten billion dollars!

redditmigrant 8y ago

I think the local control approach has absolutely utterly failed. And we have had plenty of time for local governments to adapt, but they haven't. So now its probably time to take away local control. People won't learn unless there is a change in incentives or consequences.

namlem 8y ago

Local governments have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are incapable of addressing this problem. State intervention is the only way.

masonic 8y ago

tech companies are already building campuses near the new housing Where are you seeing such construction? (And if you're rooting for the land between San Carlos St and Santa Clara St. east of the railway to be an employee laden Googleplex, take a good look at 280 during rush hours now even without events at the Arena). Google is buying those parcels because the city of San Jose is corrupt and selling at a fraction of their value, just like they tried to do when those were earmarked for an A's ballpark. That doesn't mean they will use it for dense office space.