Silicon Valley's Van-Dwellers [audio]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-21/silicon-valley-s-van-dwellers

by jason_zig • 7 years ago

34 11 7 years ago

bloomberg.com

lwhsiao• 7 years ago

Another interesting piece with interviews of people living in RVs in Silicon Valley:

https://www.topic.com/life-inside-the-rvs-of-silicon-valley

bdcravens• 7 years ago

Should probably be tagged with (podcast)

dang• 7 years ago

[audio] added. Thanks!

yhavr• 7 years ago

This seems the only option I would accept for moving to the SV. Live in a van for a couple of years, earn tech salary, save your $$$, buy a flat in the Europe instantly without mortgage. Paying 3k$ for a night shelter is an ultimate absurd, imo.

dfeojm-zlib• 7 years ago

Most people who live in SF are either insane aspirationally rich (spending all of their money, saving nothing) or actually rich.

$25k USD/month rent for a 2BR/2.5BA is ridiculous https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/d/san-francisco-the-mil...

kjeetgill• 7 years ago

Haha,really dude? Your example was a penthouse in Millennium Tower? What does this even demonstrate about SF costs? It's like the saying, oh look how rich people from Washington are, Gates and Bezos!

From the description:

second bedroom welcomes you with 24-carat gold plated door hinges and switch plates. It boasts a custom walnut boxed ceiling and includes a built-in custom Stockinger safe with a high-gloss lacquer finish and gold fittings imported from Germany as well as a curved soffit with custom plated metal panels. A hidden storage area behind the north wall is accessed by a door blended into the wall paneling.

thedarkginger• 7 years ago

This is from 2017, but it looks like the count for RVs in Mountain View was 330 back then if you're curious:

https://nypost.com/2017/11/07/silicon-valleys-car-people-pus...

NTDF9• 7 years ago

Every single such problem can be traced down to NIMBYs and prop 13

chrisdhoover• 7 years ago

And CEQA, trade unions, rent control, zoning, etc.

bayareanative• 7 years ago

Trade unions have absolutely nothing to do with this. Unions built the middle-class, irrational hate against unions and canonizing of nationalist, militarist corporate blind devotion against one's own interests further eroded the middle-class.

shdh• 7 years ago

Ellen Tara James-Penney, a 54-year-old lecturer at San Jose State University, parks her old Volvo at one of those safe-haven churches, Grace Baptist Church, and eats in its dining hall. She is paid $28,000 a year to teach four English classes and is carrying $143,000 in student debt after earning two degrees.

Can't imagine having a lecturer that sleeps in their car. A sorry state of affairs.

Silicon Valley's Van-Dwellers [audio]

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