I'm loving the tech shuttle bus protestors! (San Francisco, Stockton: rent, mortgages)

[CarawayDJ]

Originally Posted by shooting4life

If they pee'd on the street would it make everything ok? Maybe they should walk around and yell at people for no reason? Maybe they can ride their bicycles and vandalize people's cars? That way they don't affect the long evolved character of the city.

If people want to protest something they can protest their local government for making development near impossible over the last 20 years, but that is not as fun as getting mad at someone with a job.

You aren't far off. It really comes down to nothing more than they don't want their fenced-in lifestyle changed or encroached by people who aren't like them. It's why most of the time when you hear words like "tolerance" and "live and let live" it's a total crock!

[legal_eagle]

Originally Posted by metalforever

I'm looking at this thread wondering what is going on in the minds of people in San Francisco. I came to visit your fine city as a tech worker for a period of about 8 months from Pittsburgh, PA. People in Pittsburgh have a reputation for being sort of, well, redneck. A lot of the members of the population besides the under 30 crowd seem to have all of the markings of being "conservative".

However, they LOOOOOVE the idea of tech workers staying and living in their city. I always thought of San Francisco as being progressive and a bastion of "acceptance" for minority groups. However, I can't understand why you guys are so backwards about tax paying people living in your fine city, while my smaller town is very conservative in comparison and would love that idea.

Because businesses like Twitter were lured here with tax breaks, so one could argue they are taking advantage of city services without paying for them.

The influx of money has created tremendous upward pressure on housing prices, forcing many long-time residents to leave and drastically changing whole neighborhoods.

The techies are speculators with the mentality of speculators--i.e., the have little or no interest in San Francisco as a community with a rich culture and history, but are interested only in getting as much money as they can from the place.

The tech shuttle buses are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to entitled behavior ... it's hard to go anywhere in the city these days without seeing the self-involved spectacle of techies out recreate scenes from "The Social Network."

[capoeira]

Google Bus Stuck 2 - YouTube

[legal_eagle]

There ya go! This is why large vehicles are usually banned from many neighborhoods. Why should the tech shuttle buses get special treatment?

[capoeira]

Here is part 1:


Google Bus Stuck - YouTube

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by metalforever

I'm looking at this thread wondering what is going on in the minds of people in San Francisco. I came to visit your fine city as a tech worker for a period of about 8 months from Pittsburgh, PA. People in Pittsburgh have a reputation for being sort of, well, redneck. A lot of the members of the population besides the under 30 crowd seem to have all of the markings of being "conservative".

However, they LOOOOOVE the idea of tech workers staying and living in their city. I always thought of San Francisco as being progressive and a bastion of "acceptance" for minority groups. However, I can't understand why you guys are so backwards about tax paying people living in your fine city, while my smaller town is very conservative in comparison and would love that idea.

It is more cultural than anything it seems, they don't want these geeks to go to their town, if you read other sites you see more and more about how they are ruining SF with their "boring" selves, and "boring" or "lame" tastes, and are "socially awkward". SF is not really accepting of different people as seemingly Pittsburgh. You see other stereotypes as entitled and selfish as well, stereotyping is part of their othering strategy to get more people to oppose "techies". Frankly they don't want the city to change at all, and will oppose people different than them which is a very conservative position. SF is not an accepting city in general.

I would say don't let that paint you an idea of the Bay Area, most of the Bay Area is very live and let live. I live with my partner in San Jose and we are an inter-ethnic, inter-racial same-sex couple, and frankly no one really cares down here. You will find similar attitudes in a lot of the Bay Area, people have a general live and let live attitude (probably avoid the richer areas and SF if that is what you're looking for).

[shooting4life]

Originally Posted by jade408

Yes they are. The buses that traverse the small streets in my neighborhood are the mini short buses. Not the big ones. (Aka bigger than a 15 seater, not the size of the regular muni bus.)



You don't know much about me at all. The Google bus protests have no bearing on the real issue: housing supply. Particularly housing near jobs and housing in walkable neighborhoods. It also doesn't help that we don't want to take a regional approach to housing or transportation. The fact that Palo Alto and Menlo Park have 3 jobs for every residence has a very material impact on housing prices all over the region. The fact that each attempt to build denser housing, at any price point around the Caltrain stations with huge parking minimums does as well.

The "tech" buses are just a scapegoat. But the buses, no matter if they are carrying tech workers or girls scouts shouldn't be allowed to run amok of other city regulations because they are cozy with city leadership.

There needs to be a much better agreement than letting the shuttles use any Muni stop they want. And also limitations to make sure that the buses do not negatively impact the other road users too, whether they are on foot, taking muni, on a bike or in a car.

**I work at a tech company that is way too small for a bus.

Still don't understand the issue with the buses using the muni stop. People complain about them being on small streets and in the same breath complain about them stopping in a space that is specifically designed for a vehicle of that size. Cannot win for losing around here.

And to the other poster, the buses are much more environmentally friendly than every driving, they are probably not much different than the sole means of public transportation down the peninsula (diesel train).

The simple truth is the Bay Area needs more housing, in both SF and SV, both of those locations are preventing housing from going up and encouraging business. (They get more revenue this way).

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by CarawayDJ

Resistance is futile. The Bay Area is too damned beautiful to not be gentrified and taken over by those with a lot of money. Nothing you can think of to stop it would be deemed constitutional. This is a debate going on in several parts of the country. You can't stop it. Besides, who is to judge that one way of life is superior to another? Be careful before answering that question. It opens up a whole can of worms.

Should I ever become a billionaire, I'm going to create a Redneck Relocation Program. I'm going to recruit thousands of the most rural Texas rednecks and pay to relocate them to San Francisco. I won't stop until a rodeo becomes the most popular annual event in San Francisco

Who's resisting? I'm merely ridiculing.

But it's not about gentrification either. I came to the Bay in the mid-late 60's. There were tons of rich gentrified long before I got here. They've always been here. And money isn't the issue. What's arrived here of late is a narcissistic culture of self absorption. This bunch are really seriously impressed with themselves. Money doesn't make them a-holes. Self love and their mutual exclusive self appreciation does. The gods have smiled on them and given them as a gift to the rest of the world. Etc. Barf.

Originally Posted by CarawayDJ

Besides, who is to judge that one way of life is superior to another? Be careful before answering that question. It opens up a whole can of worms.

oh I'll take a shot at that. And worms are for fishing. Which is what I do. I can handle as many worms as you got.

Originally Posted by CarawayDJ

Should I ever become a billionaire, I'm going to create a Redneck Relocation Program. I'm going to recruit thousands of the most rural Texas rednecks and pay to relocate them to San Francisco. I won't stop until a rodeo becomes the most popular annual event in San Francisco

October 2014 at the Cow Palace. Where else?
2014 Grand National Rodeo

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by shooting4life

If they pee'd on the street would it make everything ok? Maybe they should walk around and yell at people for no reason? Maybe they can ride their bicycles and vandalize people's cars? That way they don't affect the long evolved character of the city.

If people want to protest something they can protest their local government for making development near impossible over the last 20 years, but that is not as fun as getting mad at someone with a job.

well I'll tell you sport, your stereotyping of SF residents prior to the tech invasion is ridiculous. The City has been here for a couple hundred years of rich and diversified history. Loaded with wealthy and sophisticated and professional people as well as all kinds of laborers, fishermen, artists, and odd sorts. They didn't pee on the streets or walk around and yell at people for no reason or ride their bicycles and vandalize people's cars. That's the point of the frustration. The diverse eclectic mix that made the City what it was is being destroyed. And what the "new" culture here does isn't any better than peeing on the streets in other ways. They can take their "jobs" - if you call what they do for a living work - and shove it. I worked blue collar trade here for near 40 years. I know a bit about having a "job".

[Texamichiforniasota]

Originally Posted by legal_eagle

Because businesses like Twitter were lured here with tax breaks, so one could argue they are taking advantage of city services without paying for them.

The influx of money has created tremendous upward pressure on housing prices, forcing many long-time residents to leave and drastically changing whole neighborhoods.

The techies are speculators with the mentality of speculators--i.e., the have little or no interest in San Francisco as a community with a rich culture and history, but are interested only in getting as much money as they can from the place.

The tech shuttle buses are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to entitled behavior ... it's hard to go anywhere in the city these days without seeing the self-involved spectacle of techies out recreate scenes from "The Social Network."

The only person that sounds entitled is you. You seem to think you you have the right to live in a beautiful, lively city without having to pay market rate for rent, and that you should somehow have the right to decide which other groups can live there. If you like San Francisco and want to stay, you either need to buy property so you can lock in the right to stay, or you have to compete with other people that want to live there. If you can't hack it in SF, there is always cheap housing in Stockton.

As several other people have pointed out, the underlying problem isn't the techies driving up rents. That is just the symptom. The underlying problem is a housing shortage, in both San Francisco and in the Silicon Valley. This is a result of people in both the Silicon Valley and San Francisco resisting denser development. The concerns are usually about traffic, changing the 'character' of the neighborhood, and displacing the people in the buildings that are already there. However, each time a development gets blocked or a building is downsized to get permits with neighbor approval, the housing shortage gets more acute and rents continue to go up. That being said, I wouldn't want a giant apartment building to be built down the street from my house either. So, if you want to protest something, protest the difficulty getting permits for denser development, not the people who's high rents pay property taxes to support police, fire, and public transportation in SF.