From The Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/05/san-francisco-geek-gentrification-threatens
As tech industry booms, young and moneyed residents are driving housing costs beyond the reach of longtime residents
Rory Carroll in San Francisco
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 March 2013
The Romans used to celebrate victory by building triumphal arches through which troops would march, blowing trumpets. California‘s new technology lords are not quite so flamboyant but there is no denying the sleekness of the citadels springing up across San Francisco.
Twitter and Yammer have led the way by moving into Market Square, a downtown art deco landmark where employees enjoy gourmet food, yoga studios, arcades and rooftop gardens.
Rising up beside it is the skeleton of what will be a luxury 30-storey apartment block which developers hope will attract young, moneyed tech workers. Meantime previously seedy neighbourhoods are being transformed by geek-driven gentrification.
“It’s pretty amazing the changes you’re seeing in neighbourhoods that not so long ago were considered undesirable,” said Eric Turner, a realtor with McGuire Real Estate, while exhibiting a $1.45m loft. “There are a lot of tech buyers with cash.”
A decade after the dotcom crash a new technology boom driven by Twitter, Google, Facebook, Apple and hundreds of startups is roaring through San Francisco, drawing thousands of workers and billions of dollars.
The boom is most apparent in the city rather than Silicon Valley, an appendage stretching 70 miles south along highway 101, and is prompting celebration and soul-searching.
“You are making our city vital, resurgent and strong,” San Francisco’s mayor, Ed Lee, exulted to entrepreneurs at a recent TechCrunch awards ceremony.
The city now boasts 1,826 tech companies and is experiencing 30% annual growth in tech jobs. A reduction in payroll tax – the product of tech industry lobbying – is boosting the influx.
Continue reading at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/05/san-francisco-geek-gentrification-threatens
