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Extreme realities—that a place so rich and so interested in change (in the jargon, "disruption") has so many homeless people—elicit extreme reactions.
by dictum 13y ago
Extreme realities—that a place so rich and so interested in change (in the jargon, "disruption") has so many homeless people—elicit extreme reactions.
- diminoten 13y agoI challenge the assertion that Silicon Valley is "so rich". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_counties_in_the_United_States#2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_counties...
- nostrademons 13y agoIt's because Silicon Valley has a small number of very rich people living in the same county as a large number of middle-class knowledge workers and immigrant service workers that support them. The latter bring down the averages, while the counties on your list are mostly just affluent bedroom communities for Washington DC. Take a look at the list of highest-income places instead, and in particular the list of highest-income cities with a population >50k: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_places_in_the_United_States#100_highest-income_places_with_a_population_of_at_least_50.2C000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_places_i... Palo Alto (#6), Cupertino (#11), Pleasanton (#18), Walnut Creek (#20), Mountain View (#21), and Sunnyvale (#30) are all Bay Area communities that are either in Silicon Valley or exurb bedroom communities for it, and rank higher than the Virginia counties you cite. The same pattern occurs on a smaller scale when you set the bar at >1000 households: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_places_in_the_United_States#100_highest-income_places_with_at_least_1.2C000_households http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_places_i... Woodside (#4), Portola Valley (#7), Hillsborough (#9), and Los Altos Hills (#14) are all in Silicon Valley; Atherton would rank ahead of Woodside according to the "population > 1000" list but apparently was left off for unspecified reasons.