[Cw67NTN8F]

I wonder if it works: Company buys land to build office but sets apart a certain percentage for employee apartments. In essence a company town. Hires a management co to run it, no buys just lease. When the company folds, downsizes or whatever, the apartments are part of it. It costs, but it's cost of doing business.

Otherwise a huge company can distort the home market .

Maybe not enough land is available, especially in places like NYC or the city wont let them build 50 stories high apartment buildings?

[DrScump]

  but sets apart a certain percentage for employee apartments.

It would be difficult to do that legally due to Fair Housing law.

[kevinburke]

Companies could certainly do more, but a lot of cities don't really want them to. Cupertino stands out in this regard; they wanted the huge office space but none of the housing for the 14,000 workers the new Apple office would generate.

[nikanj]

My Microsoft HQ friends tell me Redmond is in the same boat.

A lot of millionaires from Microsoft competing for a relatively small supply of homes close to the office, and everyone else commuting for miles and miles.

[StudentStuff]

The Eastside is not that expensive yet, unless you want to live on the water, have a view, or buy one of the gated slums out there on Lake Sammamish.

Downtown Redmond and surrounding communities still have 1 bed, 1 bath apartments at cheap prices ($600 to $700), and a newly built apartment with 3 bedrooms near the MS campus can easily be had for $1800 to $1900 a month.

[bobbyi_settv]

When I worked at MS in Redmond, I lived in Seattle and my commute was 25 minutes. I knew people who had houses in Redmond, and their commute was around 5 minutes. This is not "the same boat" as Cuptertino and MV.

[StudentStuff]

MS has moved so much out of Redmond, pushing employees to Downtown Bellevue & opening up a satellite office in Vancouver, BC. Its quite a change from just a decade ago, but apparently talent retention is better in Bellevue than out in the hinterlands of Redmond.

Then again, I don't think I'll ever take a job or live on the Eastside, perpetually trapped in my car!

[seanmcdirmid]

I live in downtown Bellevue and rarely drive my car. I wanted to live in downtown Seattle, but wife and baby objected.