5 ms·

Silicon Valley's Van-Dwellers [audio]

34 points by jason_zig 7y ago

lwhsiao 7y ago
Another interesting piece with interviews of people living in RVs in Silicon Valley: https://www.topic.com/life-inside-the-rvs-of-silicon-valley https://www.topic.com/life-inside-the-rvs-of-silicon-valley
bdcravens 7y ago
Should probably be tagged with (podcast)
- dang 7y ago
  [audio] added. Thanks!
yhavr 7y ago
This seems the only option I would accept for moving to the SV. Live in a van for a couple of years, earn tech salary, save your $$$, buy a flat in the Europe instantly without mortgage. Paying 3k$ for a night shelter is an ultimate absurd, imo.
- dfeojm-zlib 7y ago
  Most people who live in SF are either insane aspirationally rich (spending all of their money, saving nothing) or actually rich. $25k USD/month rent for a 2BR/2.5BA is ridiculous https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/d/san-francisco-the-millennium-tower-301/6903763517.html https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/d/san-francisco-the-mil...
  - kjeetgill 7y ago
    Haha,really dude? Your example was a penthouse in Millennium Tower? What does this even demonstrate about SF costs? It's like the saying, oh look how rich people from Washington are, Gates and Bezos! From the description: > second bedroom welcomes you with 24-carat gold plated door hinges and switch plates. It boasts a custom walnut boxed ceiling and includes a built-in custom Stockinger safe with a high-gloss lacquer finish and gold fittings imported from Germany as well as a curved soffit with custom plated metal panels. A hidden storage area behind the north wall is accessed by a door blended into the wall paneling.
thedarkginger 7y ago
This is from 2017, but it looks like the count for RVs in Mountain View was 330 back then if you're curious: https://nypost.com/2017/11/07/silicon-valleys-car-people-push-homeless-crisis-to-the-brink/ https://nypost.com/2017/11/07/silicon-valleys-car-people-pus...
NTDF9 7y ago
Every single such problem can be traced down to NIMBYs and prop 13
- chrisdhoover 7y ago
  And CEQA, trade unions, rent control, zoning, etc.
  - bayareanative 7y ago
    Trade unions have absolutely nothing to do with this. Unions built the middle-class, irrational hate against unions and canonizing of nationalist, militarist corporate blind devotion against one's own interests further eroded the middle-class.
shdh 7y ago
> Ellen Tara James-Penney, a 54-year-old lecturer at San Jose State University, parks her old Volvo at one of those safe-haven churches, Grace Baptist Church, and eats in its dining hall. She is paid $28,000 a year to teach four English classes and is carrying $143,000 in student debt after earning two degrees. Can't imagine having a lecturer that sleeps in their car. A sorry state of affairs.

34 points by jason_zig 7y ago

Another interesting piece with interviews of people living in RVs in Silicon Valley: https://www.topic.com/life-inside-the-rvs-of-silicon-valley https://www.topic.com/life-inside-the-rvs-of-silicon-valley

bdcravens 7y ago

Should probably be tagged with (podcast)

dang 7y ago
[audio] added. Thanks!

yhavr 7y ago

This seems the only option I would accept for moving to the SV. Live in a van for a couple of years, earn tech salary, save your $$$, buy a flat in the Europe instantly without mortgage. Paying 3k$ for a night shelter is an ultimate absurd, imo.

dfeojm-zlib 7y ago
Most people who live in SF are either insane aspirationally rich (spending all of their money, saving nothing) or actually rich. $25k USD/month rent for a 2BR/2.5BA is ridiculous https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/d/san-francisco-the-millennium-tower-301/6903763517.html https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/d/san-francisco-the-mil...
- kjeetgill 7y ago
  Haha,really dude? Your example was a penthouse in Millennium Tower? What does this even demonstrate about SF costs? It's like the saying, oh look how rich people from Washington are, Gates and Bezos! From the description: > second bedroom welcomes you with 24-carat gold plated door hinges and switch plates. It boasts a custom walnut boxed ceiling and includes a built-in custom Stockinger safe with a high-gloss lacquer finish and gold fittings imported from Germany as well as a curved soffit with custom plated metal panels. A hidden storage area behind the north wall is accessed by a door blended into the wall paneling.

thedarkginger 7y ago

This is from 2017, but it looks like the count for RVs in Mountain View was 330 back then if you're curious: https://nypost.com/2017/11/07/silicon-valleys-car-people-push-homeless-crisis-to-the-brink/ https://nypost.com/2017/11/07/silicon-valleys-car-people-pus...

NTDF9 7y ago

Every single such problem can be traced down to NIMBYs and prop 13

chrisdhoover 7y ago
And CEQA, trade unions, rent control, zoning, etc.
- bayareanative 7y ago
  Trade unions have absolutely nothing to do with this. Unions built the middle-class, irrational hate against unions and canonizing of nationalist, militarist corporate blind devotion against one's own interests further eroded the middle-class.

shdh 7y ago

> Ellen Tara James-Penney, a 54-year-old lecturer at San Jose State University, parks her old Volvo at one of those safe-haven churches, Grace Baptist Church, and eats in its dining hall. She is paid $28,000 a year to teach four English classes and is carrying $143,000 in student debt after earning two degrees. Can't imagine having a lecturer that sleeps in their car. A sorry state of affairs.