Same thing with Silicon Valley, I thought the tech guys making a solid 6 figures couldn’t even afford to live there it was so bad
I’m not implying there are racist.
I don’t know enough about their business model to know what kind of entry level work they have for these kids.
UPS is great place for someone to get a foot in the door and make a living for a family. And you don’t need a ton of quality education to get in the door. So is Amazon is like that, then okay, but I just don’t know.
I know this is HQ2, but is it just office/overhead jobs or is it a fulfillment center as well? If it’s the latter I think they’ll hire quite a few inner city kids actually.
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I was in Portland last month for a conference, and it’s interesting to hear your take. I think I agree with it although I don’t have the advantage of being a local. It’s the same “Keep Austin weird” theme, only moved to the coast. You guys have a rough homeless scene and increased gentrification can drive up costs further, potentially worsening that.
Could potentially make it better too, so what do I know.
And as far as BG said of San Fran, I think the housing costs there are more due to taxes and city council policy than the move of Google (although that would likely affect policy choices so…)
Now we’re into the sort of discussion I was hoping for here!! I should be clear up-front that I don’t have an extremely strong opinion (yet) on this, so a lot of the things I toss out there are just trying to get some semi-intelligent discussion and some feedback, given that Pittsburgh is putting on a strong campaign for HQ2 and, at this point, I’m not sure how much I should be enthused (my friend circle includes people ranging from “Yes, we should totally want HQ2, it’s going to be so cool, brah” to “Amazon can GTFO with that shit” - I’m leaning a little closer to the latter, but also trying to get better educated on the subject).
So I might throw a few things back at you (and other posters) just for the sake of discussion, not for an argument.
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In that case, I think the gentrification will be worth it, because there will be plenty of hometown kids who’s lives get improved, and therefore will be able to improve the lives of their kids.
If a neighborhood gentrifies and J. Smith who’s lived on the corner his entire life can stay there, and also profit off the appreciation of the real estate, and his grandma can too, then good.
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Ya, I tend to agree.
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Something else to think about, unemployment in Pittsburg is only 5.5%, which is about 17K people. They’re creating 50K jobs so obviously they’re gonna need outside labor.
Baltimore is 6.2%, which is about 39k. Could help Bmore more so than Pittsburg if they’re the folks employed by Amazon (or at least a large portion of them).
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Please do lol. Argue too if you want.
Don’t quote me on this because I don’t know their specific tax structure/burden, but it’s a combination of the Silicon Valley explosion and limited housing in SF that makes it the most expensive city in the US now.
And spot-on about Portland. I live about 20 minutes north of there.
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Came here to post the same. Below is a link to the segment, which is pretty good. And not to split hairs or derail the thread, while there’s certainly humor involved, they’re actually doing some really good investigative journalism there. Some of his pieces have had some real-world impact, including with the net neutrality debate and the ouster of Sepp Blatter as the head of FIFA.
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So I figured this would at least partially become a discussion about gentrification, and I’ve got moderately limited qualifications to speak on that subject as an educated, upper-middle-class white male that spent a few years living in the city of Pittsburgh (but, mostly near the Universities where everything is nice) before moving to our house in the 'burbs to settle down.
With that said, I lived/walked/drove near/around some of the rougher-hewn neighborhoods in the 'Burgh as well over the years, and have spent some time in places that make people who lived in the city 10-15 years ago say “Wait, you went out to eat there?!”
So my incompletely-educated stance basically landed on what you guys said here. Gentrification is better when the locals are actually part of the game. When they’re just steamrolled by the tidal wave, that’s, um, not ideal. If the fancy new restaurants that open as part of gentrification are hiring locals, we’re in a little better spot. As Pittsburgh has “boomed” a little bit over the last decade, the papers have run some stories now and then about older folks getting priced out apartment buildings that they’ve lived in for 20+ years because their neighborhood became a trendy place to live; sometimes evicted because developers started buying up & knocking down older buildings in those places (when they were still cheaper) to toss up a new “luxury” apartment that they could rent to Google and Uber programmers for $2,500/month.
Anyways, carry on, good chatter here.
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Yeah, this is one of the factors that influences whether it’s good or bad for a city for sure - size of the available workforce, ability of the available workforce to fulfill the created jobs (as you alluded, depends whether those jobs are all office/corporate or if they offer opportunities for people up and down the scale) and how many people parachute in with the new employer.
I’m pretty skeptical of the “50,000 jobs” number, BTW.
It’s probably going to be a lot, but some people think that number is pretty generously inflated.
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True, but how many service-type jobs will be created to support the new demand.
Not to mention, despite looking homeless, most hipsters don’t like having homeless camp out in front of their apartment.
For one, I can’t get trades to bid jobs. Construction industry is ridiculous right now.
It’s really rough from a growing pains perspective.
We are getting a 1,000 FT job fulfillment center next year. People are stoked. I just hope it means my home value will skyrocket enough for me to buy the 10 acres I’ve been eyeing.
And out of control progressive politicians who are trying to lead the way for employee rights.
Funny enough, I found myself on MLKJR Drive in PDX recently and had flashbacks of seeing boarded windows 18 years ago. Not anymore, it’s a thriving community.
Ya, I agree. Is that 50,000 a prediction based on the support jobs that will be created?
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Longview?
Yes.
Look there is always going to be losers. (I don’t mean losers in the sense that Richard Spencer is a loser). There are people who wil be pushed out of their homes, and many of them will be black, because poor blacks tend to live in poor urban areas.
However, and this is going to sound really shitty, given the choice of the situation staying the same and 5% of the current population making it out of poverty, or some gentrification and 25% of the population moving out of poverty from it… Yeah it’s worth it, even though 75% may still be losing out.
You see what I mean? It’s harsh, and immoral, but…
Honestly, I have no idea… Hopefully a lot.
It’s definitely harsh.
Why do you think it’s immoral?
I’m probably too cynical about this, but people whine and complain about lack of jobs… then whine and complain about gentrification. Do you want a job and nice things or not?
Ridgefield.
Because I’m basically saying “it’s okay to have 75% be losers”.
My goal in a situation like this is for as many people as possible to be better off then they were yesterday. Well if it ends up with “the rich getting richer” and the “poor staying pretty damn poor”, it’s not just.
If it can be “the rich getting richer and the poor getting richer” it is good and just. Only 25% benefitting doesn’t seem like the latter to me.
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