The argument that there is 'insufficient housing' in the area is a bit rubbish.
There will never be 'sufficient housing' as there will always be demand to live there, until it's a a terrible place to live ... after which demand will drop and it will be 'cheap to live'.
There will always be 'high demand places to live' and the reality is no everyone can afford to live there, too bad, that's not how it works. There's plenty of wonderful places to live in the US.
The use of the term 'NIBYISM' is wrong, people have a right to control how their communities are developed.
If someone buys a home on a big acre because they really hate traffic, noise etc. then that's the whole point. Collectively, it's their choice - not ours.
The logic of 'Build Everything Until it's Manhattan' because you or I want to afford to live there is a bit absurd in a country with vast and open spaces, especially when 'Building Like Manhatten' often doesn't seem to solve the problem anyhow. NY, the 'densest' place, is one of the most expensive.
If people believe there's a housing expense problem in the area ... then:
How many Googlers does it take to 'Screw In A Lightbulb' and by that I mean 'Build a High Speed Commuting Train' ? - that connects Santa Rosa, to Pleasonton, to Morgan Hill and further? There's a lot of space. Connect it better. WTF are all the geniuses doing that CalTrain is so slow, doesn't loop around the Bay? SF Bay is not 'terrible' but it's nothing compared to good cities for transportation. That's something that needs to be invested in.
Get rid of the very bad idea of 'Everything Being in One Place'. Literally get some of these companies out of the Valley. Take 5 companies and set up shop in Portland, or Petaluma, or Sacramento - and spread it all out further across the US. Stop bringing everyone there, making everything there. Yes, there are some advantages, but there's also advantages in creating other centres.
All of that said: Andreesen's use of 'all caps' is a bit ridiculous, seriously, I don't ever write in 'all caps' it feels a bit childish. I can just see him huffing red, slamming his fists on the table. My god, is this what happens to us when we get a bit of money and turn 55?
There will never be 'sufficient housing' as there will always be demand to live there, until it's a a terrible place to live ... after which demand will drop and it will be 'cheap to live'.
There will always be 'high demand places to live' and the reality is no everyone can afford to live there, too bad, that's not how it works. There's plenty of wonderful places to live in the US.
The use of the term 'NIBYISM' is wrong, people have a right to control how their communities are developed.
If someone buys a home on a big acre because they really hate traffic, noise etc. then that's the whole point. Collectively, it's their choice - not ours.
The logic of 'Build Everything Until it's Manhattan' because you or I want to afford to live there is a bit absurd in a country with vast and open spaces, especially when 'Building Like Manhatten' often doesn't seem to solve the problem anyhow. NY, the 'densest' place, is one of the most expensive.
If people believe there's a housing expense problem in the area ... then:
How many Googlers does it take to 'Screw In A Lightbulb' and by that I mean 'Build a High Speed Commuting Train' ? - that connects Santa Rosa, to Pleasonton, to Morgan Hill and further? There's a lot of space. Connect it better. WTF are all the geniuses doing that CalTrain is so slow, doesn't loop around the Bay? SF Bay is not 'terrible' but it's nothing compared to good cities for transportation. That's something that needs to be invested in.
Get rid of the very bad idea of 'Everything Being in One Place'. Literally get some of these companies out of the Valley. Take 5 companies and set up shop in Portland, or Petaluma, or Sacramento - and spread it all out further across the US. Stop bringing everyone there, making everything there. Yes, there are some advantages, but there's also advantages in creating other centres.
All of that said: Andreesen's use of 'all caps' is a bit ridiculous, seriously, I don't ever write in 'all caps' it feels a bit childish. I can just see him huffing red, slamming his fists on the table. My god, is this what happens to us when we get a bit of money and turn 55?