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New Tech Money, Same Old Problems

Posted by Soulskill on from the those-who-don't-study-history-are-doomed-to-something-something dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Following the publication in May of George Packer's alarming article in the New Yorker revealing the state of the communities surrounding California's tech boom, the LA Times reports that despite the wake-up call, things are getting even worse in the Bay Area as tech companies seek to completely insulate their employees from ever having to interact with the real world. Quoting: 'Every weekday starting at dawn and continuing late into the evening, a shiny fleet of unmarked buses rolls through the streets of San Francisco, picking up thousands of young technology workers at dozens of stops and depositing them an hour's drive south. It's an exclusive perk offered by Apple, Facebook, Google and other major Silicon Valley companies: luxury coaches equipped with air conditioning, plush seats and wireless Internet access that ease the stress of navigating congested Bay Area roadways. The private mass transit system has become the most visible symbol of the digital gold rush sweeping this city, and of the sharpening division between those who are riding the high-tech industry's good fortunes and those who are not.'"

6 of 372 comments (clear)

  1. Wish my employer did that. by sackofdonuts · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Driving in the Bay area is horrid. Getting bus service to and from work would be great. Could get some extra sleep too.

    1. Re:Wish my employer did that. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What's even more confusing is the article treats this like a bad thing, but it's objectively making bay area commutes BETTER by taking thousands of cars off the roads. Can you imagine how much worse traffic would be if these shuttles weren't in place?

      It's not like other mass transit is an option. Caltrain is already overloaded.

  2. This is good. by darkwing_bmf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The buses are better for the environment and road congestion than if each person had to drive individually. And they don't cost taxpayers extra money. This sounds like a win-win to me.

  3. Re:Allegory by xaxa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Huh.

    OK, maybe it's because I'm an old-school Missouri farm boy, but... that sounds an awful lot like cows at a stockyard.

    Don't they have school buses in Missouri? This is pretty much the same thing.

    And maybe it's because I'm from a European city, but it sounds like the public transport isn't very good if companies run private buses. The Google, Facebook etc here don't need buses, nor (presumably) do the offices in New York. (We don't have school buses here either, children are expected to use the normal public transport. It's free for them.)

  4. Re:Next thing you know... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Really. So companies provide employees with a free benefit, thereby reducing pollution, and relieving traffic congestion, and this means that things are "getting worse"? This is the stupidest article I have read so far today.

  5. Re: Next thing you know... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    the "lifestyle" they crave is getting killed off by the gentrification the tech money is bringing in.

    Except that SF was fully gentrified forty years ago when the gays and DINKs* moved in. Other than the homeless, poor people haven't been able to live in SF since before you were born. I don't think many theaters, shops, bars and restaurants are shutting down because their customers are "too rich".

    *DINK = Double Income, No Kids