[rtpg]

I'm extremely biased because I think any effort to "normalize" a 40-mile commute is poison to any environment, but I still don't get why, if everyone working at places like Google want to live in SF, why can't Google and co. just have offices in the city?

I get that they wouldn't be able to build their own little disneyworlds that way, but instead of having Google build an entire ecosystem, they could just have offices and people could just go downtown to eat, or not need laundry services because they don't lose 2 hours a day in a bus.

If offices were built closer to the city, they could be smaller but I'm fairly convinced most people would consider it an upgrade to quality of life in general.

When I did some work in Tokyo, going outside at lunch and just breathing some fresh air during the 10 minutes spent transiting really helped to refresh the mind.

I've never worked in Google-like environment, but the whole closed-off , prison-like state of the campus seems very off-putting. It's basically the business equivalent of gated communities with their own services, to the detriment of services shared with everyone. I can get why people can get mad.

[myko]

> I've never worked in Google-like environment, but the whole closed-off , prison-like state of the campus seems very off-putting.

Where is this prison like Google environment you're talking about?

[fallinghawks]

Agree, that's a most ridiculous statement.

[macspoofing]

>If offices were built closer to the city, they could be smaller but I'm fairly convinced most people would consider it an upgrade to quality of life in general.

What is this 'solution' solving exactly? These protests are targeting tech workers and tech companies because tech workers want to live in San Fran and thereby drive up the price of housing. How would that change if Google had offices in San Fran?!

[rtpg]

Because then things like restaurants downtown would have more foot traffic during lunch time to help make sure local businesses don't shut down. Also, it could help make downtown "bigger", so even if the end result is the same (higher rent), there'd be more apartments available (instead of the suburbs that take a lot of space for not many families).

[macspoofing]

I'm pretty sure the San Fran downtown is already in-demand, and as I said before, you can't have everything.

[dredmorbius]

Clearly: if the offices were in SF, Googlers would 1) overrun Muni, 2) Ride fixies to work, and/or 3) operate Google Shuttles within city limits only.

The lack of an attractive neighborhood and/or housing near Google HQ is another component of this issue.

I find the protests highly misguided, generally.

[darkstar999]

I thought the protest was about Google using the public bus lanes, etc for private use? This could eliminate that.

[btian]

Have you even visited Google's campus in Mountain View? There is no such thing as closed-off prison-like campus...

[JoeAltmaier]

Texas has prisons out in the dusty plains, where prisoners are not bound nor fenced. Its the distance that makes it a prison.

So in this way a very remote campus IS a prison - you have no practical choice but to exist in that ecosystem.

[sokoloff]

I understand the analogy, but anyone outside tech that reads an argument like that, especially if they've ever BEEN to an actual prison (even as a visitor), will have an extremely hard time hearing anything else about your argument.

[JoeAltmaier]

Here's another one. A prison is a state of mind. I find the cute circus campuses offensive and distasteful. Stuck in one day in and day out, I would crave freedom.

[fallinghawks]

And here's one for you. People who work for Google are there by choice. They couldn't be happier to be working with a bunch of like-minded, innovative people. Surprise!

(I don't work for Google. I know several who do.)

[JoeAltmaier]

Yeah; young people do lots of things to be part of a group. And they like shiny things. And they don't know any better.

Sure there are other kinds of young people, lets not pigeonhole them, but they're not working at Google is my guess.

[fallinghawks]

I assure you, you are in no danger of Google security officers pointing a gun at you and saying "You're going to work for Google now."

[fallinghawks]

Yeah, right, prisoners. SF is the sole oasis of civilization on the SF Peninsula, surrounded by 35 miles of desert plains that happen to be covered with offices and restaurants, a couple airports, and public transportation.

[JoeAltmaier]

Maybe a 'wasteland' is a better term. Mile upon mile of cookie-cutter cityscape. A prison for the soul.

[dredmorbius]

Contrasting your typical office-park space, in which if you plan on eating off-campus you'll almost certainly have to drive someplace (typically several miles, often in choking noontime traffic), a city office space often offers a highly diverse environment within easy walking distance -- a few blocks.

To say nothing of the vastly greater transit service (though this is often overwhelmed and/or unreliable), and option to commute by other means (often bicycles).

[rtpg]

No I haven't. I meant more in that it seems very isolated, so it's made into a sort of self-sufficient bubble. Plus if you're going by bus you're pretty much stuck there. Having gone to a school in a similar situation ( way off city center, so in a bubble), I saw how the social environment ends up becoming very "lord of the flies"-y.

I like the illusion of an escape hatch.

[wuster]

Google is rumored to be looking for a campus in Mission Bay: https://www.google.com/search?q=google+mission+bay&oq=google...