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It's still an open question as to whether this will cause San Francisco level problems. It may turn out to be a very good thing in moderation. I think people
by geebee 11y ago
It's still an open question as to whether this will cause San Francisco level problems. It may turn out to be a very good thing in moderation.
I think people forget that until very recently, San Francisco was actually rather fond of its tech industry. It was viewed as a creative, slightly quirky, and generally positive culture that fit right in.
Tech is actually a pretty good industry to have around. Supposedly tech jobs create wealth and, as a result, stimulate more non-tech job creation around it. The problem isn't necessarily tech, it's too much of a good thing[1]
There's also a secondary issue, which is that pacific northwestern cities have a middle-to-recent history of not really wanting Californians around, so you might be getting a more negative response from Portland or Seattle to "silicon valley moving north" than you would from Baltimore or St Louis. An occupational poll I read recently suggests that the computer industry is still looked on positively [2].
Overall, though? If this just means that tech is finally spreading out a bit, so that people can earn a programmer salary in SF (about 114k according to US news best jobs) in a place where this means they can now buy a house, raise a family, and stimulate the local economy (and perhaps an anemic housing market), I see this as a good thing.
[1] Perhaps. There is an argument to be made that tech culture has gotten much uglier with the amount of money that poured in. Also, we spend a lot of time and mathematical talent getting people to click on ads now.
[2] http://www.gallup.com/poll/156713/americans-rate-computer-industry-best-oil-gas-worst.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/156713/americans-rate-computer-in...
- kansface 11y ago> It's still an open question as to whether this will cause San Francisco level problems SF's (SV's) problem is that it refuses to build houses commensurate to the number of people who move there. Any number of well paid jobs from any industry would have caused the same problem. High paying (middle class) jobs (outside of manufacturing) are not a problem. > If this just means that tech is finally spreading out a bit For better or worse, the exodus of tech companies out of SV could have been prevented. The valley could have captured nearly the entire industry if it just built more houses. Billions (likely trillions over the course of a few decades) of dollars will not flow into the local economy.
- saryant 11y agoCompare the population growth in the Houston MSA against San Francisco's: the Houston area grew by 9.6% between between 2010 and 2014 while the SFBA grew by 5.9%. Compare that to the two regions' 5-year housing price index (a measure of the movement of housing prices). The Bay Area sits at 36 yet Houston at 25. Despite faster population growth, Houston's housing prices have not risen nearly as dramatically. I have to imagine that can be at least partly attributed to the seemingly limitless number of houses being built around Houston. (This comparison would probably make more sense if we could compare CSAs rather than MSAs but I couldn't find a breakdown of housing price trends at that level)
- shostack 11y agoLet's be honest....there are many other reasons why homes in the Bay Area are more desirable to many compared to Texas. It also attracts much more foreign investment due to its location.
- saryant 11y agoAccording to the National Association of Realtors, that's actually not the case. California attracts only slightly more international buyers than Texas. Texas has stronger ties to Latin America and the Middle East while still attracting a not-insignificant number of Asian buyers (Houston in particular has very strong ties to Asia). California obviously does get the bulk of investment from Asia. http://www.realtor.org/sites/default/files/2014%20Profile%20of%20International%20Home%20Buying%20Activity.pdf http://www.realtor.org/sites/default/files/2014%20Profile%20...
- scarmig 11y agoI'm a tech booster, and building and zoning restrictions certainly don't help the housing problem here. But I think it's a wee bit disingenuous to suggest it's as easy as waving a magic wand and watching all the house prices fall to Stockton levels. Even if the rate of new construction pentupled, it wouldn't lower house prices; at best it'd make them increase at a slightly slower rate. It's a good idea on its own for the purposes of environment and urban development, but pretending that it'd suddenly allow a day laborer or a teacher's aide to be able to afford rent or ownership here adds as little as the people saying tech workers are source of all evil in the world.