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The dawn of the 'start-up douchebag': San Francisco locals disturbed as Google, Facebook, Apple and eBay professionals move in
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| Contributor | Scott³ |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Sep 27, 2013 07:45pm |
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| Category | News |
| Author | Tim Walker |
| Media | Newspaper - Independent |
| News Date | Saturday, September 28, 2013 01:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | "Vance Maverick points down at the pavement with a chuckle. There on the concrete, close to the spot in San Francisco’s Mission District where the 42-year-old Google engineer catches a private commuter bus to Silicon Valley, is some faint political graffiti. It’s still possible to make out a crudely painted Google search box; before it faded, Maverick explains, the search terms read: “Trendy Google professionals help raise housing costs.”
It’s safe to say that sentiment still holds. In the Mission and across San Francisco, long-time locals are disturbed by the profusion of young, rich tech professionals moving into their neighbourhoods, driving up house prices and – inadvertently or not – driving out residents. The phenomenon has inspired impassioned essays in San Francisco magazine, the London Review of Books and The New Yorker.
The Google buses, which often stop in spaces supposedly reserved for public transport, are a particular point of contention. This growing fleet of unmarked luxury coaches carries some 14,000 people on their 35-mile trip from the city to Silicon Valley and back. Since the search giant introduced the buses a decade ago, Facebook, Apple, eBay and almost 40 other companies have followed suit. Each new route quickly becomes a corridor of hip clothing stores and restaurants.
Maverick admits that the criticism has upset some of his younger colleagues. “I’m old enough not to be personally offended, but I know some people at Google were surprised and hurt,” he says. “I’ve always found the graffiti amusing. It reflects the adversarial culture of public protest in San Francisco – which is part of the reason we’re all moving here.” |
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