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Even if IBM, or (let's be hip here) Google located on this toxic waste dump, there would still be plenty of traffic on all the surrounding streets. I mean, at Google you get to choose which 16 hours of the day you'll work, right? The workers would likely come from all over the general area, and drive to work. You can't replicate the old factory towns where everyone walked to work. I can remember as a little kid, seeing people walking to/from work. Now by my day, they probably drove and parked close by, but in my father's day, they likely walked from home.
Cars gave people mobility. You can't put that genie back in the bottle. This is what "New Urbanism" is trying to do. One is supposed to live, work and shop within the confines of the community. That's what I mean when I say they're trying to recreate New England/midwestern farm towns, and then nei comes along and says in New England it's more factory towns. But you get the idea.
Taking away the option to commute to work in alternative forms of transportation is bad. The metro you live in knows it, which is why they built a tech center on a light rail line. The people that work for tech companies prefer more urban walkable communities. Building for cars only leaves those areas behind.
Even if IBM, or (let's be hip here) Google located on this toxic waste dump, there would still be plenty of traffic on all the surrounding streets. I mean, at Google you get to choose which 16 hours of the day you'll work, right? The workers would likely come from all over the general area, and drive to work. You can't replicate the old factory towns where everyone walked to work. I can remember as a little kid, seeing people walking to/from work. Now by my day, they probably drove and parked close by, but in my father's day, they likely walked from home.
Cars gave people mobility. You can't put that genie back in the bottle. This is what "New Urbanism" is trying to do. One is supposed to live, work and shop within the confines of the community. That's what I mean when I say they're trying to recreate New England/midwestern farm towns, and then nei comes along and says in New England it's more factory towns. But you get the idea.
We have this problem now in the Bay Area. Google is in the middle of suburbia, and transit isn't especially easy to get there. A good portion of google employees want to live in San Francisco, which is 40 miles away. Google now has private shuttles all over SF that stop at the public bus stops. Rentals near these google stops (apple and Facebook are in similar boats) have at least doubled over the past few years. Think $3700 for a one bedroom. Google also has buses from other parts of the Bay Area too but critical mass in SF. googles office doesn't really match up with the living preferences of many of its employees. These people are choosing a 60-90 minute commute because they don't want to live in the suburbs (which is the only choice in the 25-35 mile radius of google)
We have this problem now in the Bay Area. Google is in the middle of suburbia, and transit isn't especially easy to get there. A good portion of google employees want to live in San Francisco, which is 40 miles away. Google now has private shuttles all over SF that stop at the public bus stops. Rentals near these google stops (apple and Facebook are in similar boats) have at least doubled over the past few years. Think $3700 for a one bedroom. Google also has buses from other parts of the Bay Area too but critical mass in SF. googles office doesn't really match up with the living preferences of many of its employees. These people are choosing a 60-90 minute commute because they don't want to live in the suburbs (which is the only choice in the 25-35 mile radius of google)
I am actually surprised Google hasn't done what Amazon is doing and build an urban campus in the middle of SF where most of their employees want to live, but at least they provide a bus service for their employees.
I am actually surprised Google hasn't done what Amazon is doing and build an urban campus in the middle of SF where most of their employees want to live, but at least they provide a bus service for their employees.
It is a delicate balance. Some employees like the google plex. But silicon valleys big problem is that it is only served by Caltrain and most offices are 2-3 miles from the train. And most of SF is a 20-30 minute bus ride from the station. Transit from Oakland to google is a disaster too. And the drive is 90 minutes on a good day during the commute.
It is a delicate balance. Some employees like the google plex. But silicon valleys big problem is that it is only served by Caltrain and most offices are 2-3 miles from the train. And most of SF is a 20-30 minute bus ride from the station. Transit from Oakland to google is a disaster too. And the drive is 90 minutes on a good day during the commute.
I am actually surprised the companies in silicon valley haven't just built their own rail line to connect the companies to BART or CalTrain or something, especially seeing Facebook drop $4 billion on a random app.
Quit twisting what I say. You are not the mod, I might remind you.
I'm saying that people don't live the way they did back 100+ years ago, when that steel mill we originally were talking about was built. People don't necessarily live close to their work any more, not close enough to walk. "Tech people today" are likely to have several jobs over the course of a career, rather than one, or maybe two, per lifetime like they did back then. DH has had four over 30 years, and there are many who've had more than that. The jobs can't all be close to where they live.
No one is saying that people should live the way they did 100 years ago. No one is saying that everyone should walk to their job. What is being said is: let's provide alternatives to being dependent on the automobile, for those who choose to do so.
One way to provide communities that aren't dependent on the automobile, is to look at how our cities worked before we became auto-dependent--to learn from what did and didn't work.
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