4 ms·

I don't live in Cupertino, but it's right across the street (or several streets). I follow a lot of this on NextDoor. Cupertino isn't some random city; it's wh

I don't live in Cupertino, but it's right across the street (or several streets). I follow a lot of this on NextDoor. Cupertino isn't some random city; it's where Apple has been since the beginning. They contribute massively to the traffic around here, and they could easily afford to buy the empty Vallco site and build housing for their employees, who could then walk to the Spaceship. Only now are they even talking about building teacher housing there. Cupertino lets them get away with it because of all that money they're paying. I always thought a Chicago Move would be for the city to go to Tim Cook and say, looking around appreciatively at the Spaceship, "Nice building you have here, Tim. What was it, five billion? Very nice. Be a shame if we had to close it down for health inspections."

funkyjazz 4y ago
"Ok say goodbye to $2B in annual tax revenue, we're moving to Redwood City!"
- AlbertCory 4y ago
  An empty threat. Edited: what are they going to do, rent out the Spaceship for low-income housing? I don't think there's enough plumbing.
  - neximo64 4y ago
    They could move it.
    - AlbertCory 4y ago
      (picturing a trailer on 101 with a "Wide Load" sign on the back.)
      - sharedbeans 4y ago
        [flagged]
      - tonymillion 4y ago
        You’ve seen Stargate Atlantis right? I imagine it’ll be more like that…
  - favorited 4y ago
    Less than 50% of Apple employees in the Bay Area work at Apple Park.
    - AlbertCory 4y ago
      how is that relevant to Cupertino?
kindatrue 4y ago
>they could easily afford to buy the empty Vallco site and build housing for their employees, who could then walk to the Spaceship You do know that the voters of Cupertino elected to their city council the person who posted on NextDoor that allowing Apple employees to live at Vallco would result in more high school prostitution right? https://twitter.com/HousingValley/status/1154781703262498816 https://twitter.com/HousingValley/status/1154781703262498816
- AlbertCory 4y ago
  I thought you meant Steve Scharf for a second there.
  - astrange 4y ago
    Steve Scharf instead just said they should build a wall around Cupertino and make San Jose pay for it.
    - AlbertCory 4y ago
      He's actually someone I've known for a long time, so I was hugely amused to see him become a national figure (as it were).
- specialist 4y ago
  Moral panic driven land use policy. Nice. plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
  - jrockway 4y ago
    This is just a minor defect in democracy; representatives are chosen by people that already live there, so there is no strong electoral incentive to advocate for new residents. Sure, they will get more property tax revenue which pays for ... everything ... but, if you already have enough, you don't really want more. I don't think anyone in Cupertino is suffering from lack of government services, so there isn't a strong reason to vote in change. I think people are also irrationally afraid that building new housing will drive down the price of their existing housing, but do we really see that happen? (Why do real estate prices always go up? Because people will be stubborn and not sell their home for less than they paid, unless there is a Detroit-like crisis, which Cupertino is definitely not in danger of. At that point, things like the federal prime rate are really what put a damper on housing prices, not Apple employees moving into apartments built on a vacant lot.) To some extent, everyone is aware of these factors, which is why California said "enough is enough" and moved some control to the state level.
fundad 4y ago
I know Cupertino is upscale but residents still get in their cars and use the roads to get to work right? Not every resident is independently wealthy. Apple employees and contractors may contribute to the traffic by commuting from inside and outside of Cupertino to the office but does the company contribute "massively"? People also clog up the roads going to all manner of jobs and also coming to Cupertino for one of its many big box stores.
- AlbertCory 4y ago
  > its many big box stores and you live where? I count two: Target and Home Depot.
  - fundad 4y ago
    I'm talking about the Target all the big supermarkets and the Home Depot which isn't in Cupertino but contributes to traffic.
  - kccqzy 4y ago
    You mean the Home Depot at 975 S De Anza Blvd, San Jose, CA 95129?
  - astrange 4y ago
    There's a TJ Maxx.
    - AlbertCory 4y ago
      I call that a "store", not a "big box store."
  - zamnos 4y ago
    Home Depot (and Trader Joe's and H-Mart) are just outside of Cupertino, in a trick that would otherwise look like gerrymandering since the border follows S De Anza Blvd and Prospect Rd to the south instead of jutting out to enclose those specific stores in San Jose's jurisdiction. There is, however a number of popular stores, including Whole Foods, Target as you mentioned, a 99-Ranch and a Safeway, and a JOANN Fabric and Crafts. There's also Apple's Infinite loop campus which isn't a big box store but does involve a lot of traffic, as well as De Anza College, the local community college which also involves a lot of traffic. I swear there used to be a Best Buy on that stretch of Stevens Creek, but that was too long ago for my memory, and Google's memory. Complaining about people clogging up roads is some NextDoor level shit though.

funkyjazz 4y ago

"Ok say goodbye to $2B in annual tax revenue, we're moving to Redwood City!"

AlbertCory 4y ago
An empty threat. Edited: what are they going to do, rent out the Spaceship for low-income housing? I don't think there's enough plumbing.
- neximo64 4y ago
  They could move it.
  - AlbertCory 4y ago
    (picturing a trailer on 101 with a "Wide Load" sign on the back.)
    - sharedbeans 4y ago
      [flagged]
    - tonymillion 4y ago
      You’ve seen Stargate Atlantis right? I imagine it’ll be more like that…
- favorited 4y ago
  Less than 50% of Apple employees in the Bay Area work at Apple Park.
  - AlbertCory 4y ago
    how is that relevant to Cupertino?

kindatrue 4y ago

>they could easily afford to buy the empty Vallco site and build housing for their employees, who could then walk to the Spaceship You do know that the voters of Cupertino elected to their city council the person who posted on NextDoor that allowing Apple employees to live at Vallco would result in more high school prostitution right? https://twitter.com/HousingValley/status/1154781703262498816 https://twitter.com/HousingValley/status/1154781703262498816

AlbertCory 4y ago
I thought you meant Steve Scharf for a second there.
- astrange 4y ago
  Steve Scharf instead just said they should build a wall around Cupertino and make San Jose pay for it.
  - AlbertCory 4y ago
    He's actually someone I've known for a long time, so I was hugely amused to see him become a national figure (as it were).
specialist 4y ago
Moral panic driven land use policy. Nice. plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
- jrockway 4y ago
  This is just a minor defect in democracy; representatives are chosen by people that already live there, so there is no strong electoral incentive to advocate for new residents. Sure, they will get more property tax revenue which pays for ... everything ... but, if you already have enough, you don't really want more. I don't think anyone in Cupertino is suffering from lack of government services, so there isn't a strong reason to vote in change. I think people are also irrationally afraid that building new housing will drive down the price of their existing housing, but do we really see that happen? (Why do real estate prices always go up? Because people will be stubborn and not sell their home for less than they paid, unless there is a Detroit-like crisis, which Cupertino is definitely not in danger of. At that point, things like the federal prime rate are really what put a damper on housing prices, not Apple employees moving into apartments built on a vacant lot.) To some extent, everyone is aware of these factors, which is why California said "enough is enough" and moved some control to the state level.

fundad 4y ago

I know Cupertino is upscale but residents still get in their cars and use the roads to get to work right? Not every resident is independently wealthy. Apple employees and contractors may contribute to the traffic by commuting from inside and outside of Cupertino to the office but does the company contribute "massively"? People also clog up the roads going to all manner of jobs and also coming to Cupertino for one of its many big box stores.

AlbertCory 4y ago
> its many big box stores and you live where? I count two: Target and Home Depot.
- fundad 4y ago
  I'm talking about the Target all the big supermarkets and the Home Depot which isn't in Cupertino but contributes to traffic.
- kccqzy 4y ago
  You mean the Home Depot at 975 S De Anza Blvd, San Jose, CA 95129?
- astrange 4y ago
  There's a TJ Maxx.
  - AlbertCory 4y ago
    I call that a "store", not a "big box store."
- zamnos 4y ago
  Home Depot (and Trader Joe's and H-Mart) are just outside of Cupertino, in a trick that would otherwise look like gerrymandering since the border follows S De Anza Blvd and Prospect Rd to the south instead of jutting out to enclose those specific stores in San Jose's jurisdiction. There is, however a number of popular stores, including Whole Foods, Target as you mentioned, a 99-Ranch and a Safeway, and a JOANN Fabric and Crafts. There's also Apple's Infinite loop campus which isn't a big box store but does involve a lot of traffic, as well as De Anza College, the local community college which also involves a lot of traffic. I swear there used to be a Best Buy on that stretch of Stevens Creek, but that was too long ago for my memory, and Google's memory. Complaining about people clogging up roads is some NextDoor level shit though.