Are technology companies “turning San Francisco into a mere bedroom community for the South Bay”? San Francisco magazine examines the way tech companies are changing the Bay Area for better and worse. As wages rise and unemployment falls, housing prices have climbed so high that even startup entrepreneurs are finding themselves sleeping in their cars. Can anyone compete in the new economy? Follow the link to read about The Care and Feeding of a Tech Boom.
Chris Schodt built a running motor before turning 10. By 26, he pivoted — just slightly — from a career in science to writing about it as a journalist. The St. Paul, Minn., transplant hopes to uncover the “upstarts and weirdos” of the Mission’s burgeoning tech/science scene.
More by Chris Schodt
Agree with you TechGood. With educated persons who are in the tech industry, they buy businesses, homes in the neighborhood, value goes up, crime goes down. Once rundown, blighted areas become upgraded. Win-win for all.
“Win-win for all,” only if one disregards the losers in the scenario–existing residents and businesses that are involuntarily displaced.
This current cycle of economic terrorism even corrupts the language with misnomers like “win-win,” and “sharing economy.”
The point is: what is good for the city.
In any community, what is good for the community may not be good for every individual in the community. It is unfortunate, but if you have been deeply involved in enough communities you come to respect that the health of the community is key — that you need to serve the majority, even if that means some individuals loose. You cannot degrade the city to serve the lowest common denominator — that will just lead to decline of the whole community.
Any city is a living organism that, like a plant, depends on attracting resources. The tech boom is bring useful wealth and resources to the city, so it is good for the city. Might not be good for any one individual, but certainly for the overall city it is much better to be a wealthy city than a poor city (see Detroit, for example). And — it is not just turning the city into a south-bay commuting bedroom community. Yes, there is a component of that, but there is clearly a shift happening as more of the tech industry slowly shifts up into the city — because this is where the talent is. There are so many examples of folks who moved to the city, but worked in the south bay for many years, who then had the resources to try starting their own company, and naturally do so here in the city. Give this process a few cycles to run and those startups are maturing and creating a new strong center of tech here in the city.
and citing “startup entrepreneurs needing to sleep in their cars” is a red herring. Startups are often very financially marginal and just barely able to get by — it is a long time story of startups being run on credit cards, and entrepreneurs living on couches and in cars. Its been that way since the early days of silicon valley.
Why do you hate Latinos, the elderly and the poor?
I appreciate your sarcasm.
Obviously it isn’t. Keep these white devil newcomers out of the Mission.