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Menlo Park is determined to protect its "village feel". They don't want to be a "real city". They won't even allow buildings over two stories tall in the quaint

by beat 12y ago

Menlo Park is determined to protect its "village feel". They don't want to be a "real city". They won't even allow buildings over two stories tall in the quaint little downtown area. Trying to overlay dense housing and mixed-use buildings onto a wealthy "village" is incredibly difficult, and some giant corporation muscling the city council is likely to provoke the residential antibodies.

eli_gottlieb 12y ago
And precisely this is why I'm adamant about never, ever moving to the Bay Area. It's full of tech companies to work at, neat people to hang out with, and has an excellent climate with plenty of nature to bike through... and the local governments do their damnedest to ensure nobody will ever be able to afford any of it except for them.
- michaelochurch 12y ago
  My issue with the Bay Area is that and the baseless professional downgrading that's usually involved with that move. Because you didn't do it in the Bay Area, they shave one or two ranks off your title and your salary suffers (and, presumably, you don't get the best projects). Sorry, but I know more than your VPs about technology and how to build a company, and so I'm not going to take a junior role for the "privilege" of living in California. If winter gets to me, I'll take two weeks and go to Mexico or Bonaire; problem solved.
amyjess 12y ago
That... sounds like a perfect place for me to live. I'm just salivating at the thought of living in a town that doesn't allow buildings over two stories. If I didn't love Texas (and my current job) so much, I'd seriously consider moving there now. Hmm... I think one of my ex-coworkers from my last job is from that town. Maybe I'll ping her and ask her about it...
_delirium 12y ago
Interestingly San Jose has had some controversy over the opposite issue. The city has a bit of an inferiority complex about not being perceived as a "real city" despite having ~1m people, so has been trying to encourage more high-rise development and fewer sprawling office parks. The goal seems to be to turn itself into a globally known tech hub, rather than being perceived as just the southern suburbs of San Francisco. Part of the city (the North San Jose redevelopment area) is targeted as a new high-rise central business district adjacent to the BART extension, and part of that redevelopment plan included minimum height guidelines, in which new developments were supposed to be at least 14 stories tall. There was considerable pushback from developers, though, because they wanted to build office parks rather than 14-story buildings, so the guideline has since been waived.

by beat 12y ago

eli_gottlieb 12y ago

And precisely this is why I'm adamant about never, ever moving to the Bay Area. It's full of tech companies to work at, neat people to hang out with, and has an excellent climate with plenty of nature to bike through... and the local governments do their damnedest to ensure nobody will ever be able to afford any of it except for them.

michaelochurch 12y ago
My issue with the Bay Area is that and the baseless professional downgrading that's usually involved with that move. Because you didn't do it in the Bay Area, they shave one or two ranks off your title and your salary suffers (and, presumably, you don't get the best projects). Sorry, but I know more than your VPs about technology and how to build a company, and so I'm not going to take a junior role for the "privilege" of living in California. If winter gets to me, I'll take two weeks and go to Mexico or Bonaire; problem solved.

amyjess 12y ago

That... sounds like a perfect place for me to live. I'm just salivating at the thought of living in a town that doesn't allow buildings over two stories. If I didn't love Texas (and my current job) so much, I'd seriously consider moving there now. Hmm... I think one of my ex-coworkers from my last job is from that town. Maybe I'll ping her and ask her about it...

_delirium 12y ago

Interestingly San Jose has had some controversy over the opposite issue. The city has a bit of an inferiority complex about not being perceived as a "real city" despite having ~1m people, so has been trying to encourage more high-rise development and fewer sprawling office parks. The goal seems to be to turn itself into a globally known tech hub, rather than being perceived as just the southern suburbs of San Francisco. Part of the city (the North San Jose redevelopment area) is targeted as a new high-rise central business district adjacent to the BART extension, and part of that redevelopment plan included minimum height guidelines, in which new developments were supposed to be at least 14 stories tall. There was considerable pushback from developers, though, because they wanted to build office parks rather than 14-story buildings, so the guideline has since been waived.