5 ms·

I've actually been working out of this space for the past few weeks. Don't have kids but I see everyday how amazing it is for all the people who work there who

I've actually been working out of this space for the past few weeks. Don't have kids but I see everyday how amazing it is for all the people who work there who do. The daycare is sectioned off so there isn't a whole lot of noise or distractions from the kids. If you're based out of SF, freelance / work remotely, and have kids, I think this is a fantastic setup.

rocky1138 13y ago
The fact that the kids are separate from the work area should have been outlined clearly in the article. After reading the headline and the text, my thoughts were "this sounds horrible and I'd want to jump off a bridge if I worked there." Now that I know the kids are kept away from the work environment, I can definitely see the benefits. Who watches over the kids while they're in the daycare? A rotating schedule between the parents?
- nairteashop 13y ago
  Hah yeah, if the work & daycare sections weren't separate, I would've jumped off a bridge too! Re: watching over kids: it's like a regular daycare, so they have dedicated staff to take care of the kids. (Which also means the daycare costs extra, on top of the fees for the co-working space itself.)
  - prawn 13y ago
    Are there significant advantages over just picking a childcare facility close to your place of work? Obviously distance comes into it, but I feel that otherwise you're potentially picking the best combo-childcare-workspace rather than the best childcare facility and best workspace. When I first started reading the article, I thought they were going to suggest working from home with the child around your legs. Ha! Good luck with that!
    - michaelt 13y ago
      Presumably it means you can see your child in a five-minute coffee break several times in the work day, and feel less like you're shipping your child off for other people to take care of most of the waking day.
    - cafard 13y ago
      I never did that, but I have known people who have had their children in day care centers close by, and were happy to have them there, may have looked in at lunch, etc. On the other hand, I knew a woman with an office right upstairs from the rooms where our children were; she got fed up with the management and moved her daughter to another facility--not very far, but not lunchtime walking distance.
    - pbreit 13y ago
      The proximity alone is a huge advantage. And I would think that the parents are more organized (ie they all work in the same office) would be beneficial. Above some minimum bar, I'm not sure what the "best" looks like (for <= 36 months).
      - prawn 13y ago
        We compared a few childcare places and while all seemed adequate, the one we went with has a kitchen with some instructional component (e.g., children often see how the food is prepared and get some practice), chickens and vegetable garden, has orchestra-level musicians visit for music days, etc. It's a purpose built facility rather than a retro-fitted house too. My child is there only two days a week, so I have no issue with not being able to drop in to play during lunch breaks.
  - pbreit 13y ago
    How much is the daycare? I thin it ear that they do want parents to spend an hour per week in the daycare? Hard to find information about it.
marquis 13y ago
Looking at the photos it doesn't seem there is a lot of privacy unless you permanently camp out in a conference room. I'm on the phone pretty much all the time, would this not be a good fit, for when I'm in SF?
- rhizome 13y ago
  This is a failing of most coworking spaces in SF, and I imagine its a question purely of economics. I'd like to see (or hey, get funding to start) an open plan office that at least has the option of high-wall cubicles. I also think there's a bit of a gold rush in that commercial real estate owners figure they can just take a big open room and throw a bunch of tables down and charge everybody $300/mo to huddle together. However, there are also several hackerspaces that have woodshops and whatnot, so it seems like a short hop to think that if computery people can work as part of a multidisciplinary office next to a bandsaw, why not work alongside daycare workers? Maybe there are some legal issues in sharing in this way, but by splitting a big open office into a daycare side of a wall and an internet one, maybe there's a way.
  - marquis 13y ago
    I wonder how a landlord in SF would feel about using a residential address as a shared office: much more affordable than downtown real estate and maybe the bonus of a garden for the summer. I expect that happens a lot unofficially..
    - drivingmissm 13y ago
      Landlords don't care but the neighbors and the city might
    - pbreit 13y ago
      Uh...residential real estate is hardly "much more affordable" in SF. In fact, office space in soma is likely still cheaper than residential here (not sure why you'd want to be downtown). Also, probably illegal if not zoned for commercial
- 13y ago

rocky1138 13y ago

The fact that the kids are separate from the work area should have been outlined clearly in the article. After reading the headline and the text, my thoughts were "this sounds horrible and I'd want to jump off a bridge if I worked there." Now that I know the kids are kept away from the work environment, I can definitely see the benefits. Who watches over the kids while they're in the daycare? A rotating schedule between the parents?

nairteashop 13y ago
Hah yeah, if the work & daycare sections weren't separate, I would've jumped off a bridge too! Re: watching over kids: it's like a regular daycare, so they have dedicated staff to take care of the kids. (Which also means the daycare costs extra, on top of the fees for the co-working space itself.)
- prawn 13y ago
  Are there significant advantages over just picking a childcare facility close to your place of work? Obviously distance comes into it, but I feel that otherwise you're potentially picking the best combo-childcare-workspace rather than the best childcare facility and best workspace. When I first started reading the article, I thought they were going to suggest working from home with the child around your legs. Ha! Good luck with that!
  - michaelt 13y ago
    Presumably it means you can see your child in a five-minute coffee break several times in the work day, and feel less like you're shipping your child off for other people to take care of most of the waking day.
  - cafard 13y ago
    I never did that, but I have known people who have had their children in day care centers close by, and were happy to have them there, may have looked in at lunch, etc. On the other hand, I knew a woman with an office right upstairs from the rooms where our children were; she got fed up with the management and moved her daughter to another facility--not very far, but not lunchtime walking distance.
  - pbreit 13y ago
    The proximity alone is a huge advantage. And I would think that the parents are more organized (ie they all work in the same office) would be beneficial. Above some minimum bar, I'm not sure what the "best" looks like (for <= 36 months).
    - prawn 13y ago
      We compared a few childcare places and while all seemed adequate, the one we went with has a kitchen with some instructional component (e.g., children often see how the food is prepared and get some practice), chickens and vegetable garden, has orchestra-level musicians visit for music days, etc. It's a purpose built facility rather than a retro-fitted house too. My child is there only two days a week, so I have no issue with not being able to drop in to play during lunch breaks.
- pbreit 13y ago
  How much is the daycare? I thin it ear that they do want parents to spend an hour per week in the daycare? Hard to find information about it.

marquis 13y ago

Looking at the photos it doesn't seem there is a lot of privacy unless you permanently camp out in a conference room. I'm on the phone pretty much all the time, would this not be a good fit, for when I'm in SF?

rhizome 13y ago
This is a failing of most coworking spaces in SF, and I imagine its a question purely of economics. I'd like to see (or hey, get funding to start) an open plan office that at least has the option of high-wall cubicles. I also think there's a bit of a gold rush in that commercial real estate owners figure they can just take a big open room and throw a bunch of tables down and charge everybody $300/mo to huddle together. However, there are also several hackerspaces that have woodshops and whatnot, so it seems like a short hop to think that if computery people can work as part of a multidisciplinary office next to a bandsaw, why not work alongside daycare workers? Maybe there are some legal issues in sharing in this way, but by splitting a big open office into a daycare side of a wall and an internet one, maybe there's a way.
- marquis 13y ago
  I wonder how a landlord in SF would feel about using a residential address as a shared office: much more affordable than downtown real estate and maybe the bonus of a garden for the summer. I expect that happens a lot unofficially..
  - drivingmissm 13y ago
    Landlords don't care but the neighbors and the city might
  - pbreit 13y ago
    Uh...residential real estate is hardly "much more affordable" in SF. In fact, office space in soma is likely still cheaper than residential here (not sure why you'd want to be downtown). Also, probably illegal if not zoned for commercial
13y ago