
Palo Alto mayor pushes for ban on large tech companies taking over downtown - HillaryBriss
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/02/palo-alto-ban-technology-companies-downtown-patrick-burt
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wfoweoi
Whether this happens or not, it's succeeding in framing "techies" as the cause
of high housing prices.

Stop restricting new construction.

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subway
I think the en vogue term for us is "Tech Bro", at least in Seattle that seems
to be the case.

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zardo
I thought it was "brogrammer".

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pdxgene
That's _so_ 2013...

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paulddraper
Don't bite the hand that feeds you and wants to hand you stacks of cash.

"We’re seeing it transformed into something that risks becoming like every
other technology park."

That would be...educated population, business growth, tremendous financial
gains for existing property owners.

What exactly is he worried about? Traffic?

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redwood
On the contrary... The hand that feeds Palo Alto is a culture of
entrepreneurship. Downtown Palo Alto in particular, with its easy access to
Stanford University, venture capital, and many smaller office spaces, has long
been a major incubator.

Companies like Palantir that take over all this previous incubator-like space
are in fact a threat to the very hand that feeds Palo Alto. Further, once
you're big enough that you provide your own services (caffeteria etc) you
threaten the viability of downtown businesses that cater to smaller offices.

Also, once inevitably companies like Palantir _do_ make their move to a proper
office park somewhere, that will mean a glut of suddenly open office space in
Downtown Palo Alto. This isn't healthy either... it's better to ensure that
there is always a fairly stable amount of demand and vacancy...

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apsec112
This problem is _entirely_ caused by Palo Alto's draconian zoning laws. Many
companies like being in a mixed-use area (one that combines housing, office,
and retail), but this is illegal in 99% of the city. So everyone fights to the
death over the remaining 1%.

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Filligree
> This is illegal in 99% of the city.

Wait, what? What's the logic behind this? Wouldn't this cause massive
congestion?

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superuser2
People (particularly those with children) do not like to live among the foot
traffic, noise, or any kind of traffic/signs of life associated with strangers
making their way to and from businesses in a residential neighborhood.
Businesses are excluded from residential areas to preserve this trait, which
homeowners tend to view as a huge component of their homes' value.

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hx87
I wonder how much the prevalence of skinny wood frame walls and sash windows
in the US contribute to this issue--if houses were made of 2x6s with
continuous insulation, or double 2x4 studs, or masonry, and had casement
windows instead, I suspect people wouldn't mind the outside noise as much.

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superuser2
True, but I think being in a closed-world snow globe where people feel
comfortable letting their children walk around is a huge part of it.

Excluding people who cannot afford homes in the neighborhood or cars to get
there is a principal component of the "safety" strategy of suburbia. Add
businesses and public transit to reach them, and that goes away.

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jeffbush
There are lots of offices above the retail spaces on University Ave in Palo
Alto, and have been plenty of small companies there for decades. I don't think
people were upset about that. I suspect impetus for this ban is Palentir. More
egregiously, they turned a huge retail/commercial space into their cafeteria.
There are big windows in the front where you can see employees eating.
Honestly, it's weird.

I think they broke an unwritten social contract: small companies on University
Ave. are okay, but you need to move out once you grow up. You can't try take
over and push everyone else out.

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nodesocket
This is idiotic. I live in San Francisco and growing tired of people blaming
"techies" for rising housing costs, or "ruining" the culture in the bay area.
This is just people complaining that techies make more money than them. It is
typical extreme liberal outrage.

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monatron
I do not live in San Francisco, but I would venture a guess that it's much
more nuanced than that.

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nodesocket
Do you think this stereotyping in the bay area of techies is much different
than what Trumps says in terms of minorities?

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TenOhms
When has Trump ever mentioned anything negative about 'minorities'?

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gumby
Palo Alto certainly has its NIMBYs but the problem is we need our downtown as,
well, a downtown: a place to by aspirin, get a meal, have shoes repaired etc.
Basically a mix of retail. We have tech parks for businesses. Worse, companies
like Palantir have their own cafeterias and other services (they took over
face book's, though it was unused for a while after FB moved out, and also
converted a copy shop into a cafeteria) which means all those employees aren't
even helping the remaining restaurants, while squeezing out foot traffic.

The other problem is that when you have only a couple of large tenants, when
they move out (by failing or growing) you suddenly have a bombed-out glut of
empty space in a quiet downtown.

This isn't really ideological: there's another "problem" which we _don 't_
address which is that PA downtown has more chain shops and places for tourists
(e.g. cheesecake factory) rather than locals. Though I live within walking
distance of downtown I often go to cal ave or midtown for my needs. That's an
ebb and flow of fashion (over the years the number of chain stores has risen
and fallen) and doesn't need intervention. But this overtaking of the downtown
has hysteresis effects that could be very bad.

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blackaspen
I lived in Palo Alto in 2012 and even then, Palantir's building collection
seemed a little excessive. I'm mostly happy that they're doing well...but
every time I've gone back, it feels less like the already-strange downtown it
was and more like a Palantir campus.

I joked with friends then that Palantir's only real business model was buying
Palo Alto so they could sell it later.

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hkmurakami
Do they even own the real estate? I was under the impression that they rent.

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abritinthebay
Has he ever been to downtown Palo Alto? That ship has sailed when I first got
to the Bay 10 years ago.

It's like a nerdy Disneyland. Lovely place still, and beautiful to walk
around, but this is a bit late.

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sfrailsdev
Wait, why does the article say Amazon is based there?

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abritinthebay
They have like... at least 3 offices there for different sub-divisions.

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elaineo
Palantir and Skype are in Downtown Palo Alto. Paypal was founded there, and so
was Google.

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karma_vaccum123
Google moved out of University Ave as soon as they exceeded the
capacity...they didn't try taking over downtown, they took over boring office
park space north of 101 in PA for a while.

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blackaspen
Facebook was also in one of the University Ave buildings for a bit before they
moved to Page Mill and ultimately to Menlo Park.

