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from the should-really-be-in-space-or-undersea dept.
When Apple finishes its new $5 billion headquarters in Cupertino, California, the technorati will ooh and ahh over its otherworldly architecture, patting themselves on the back for yet another example of "innovation." Countless employees, tech bloggers, and design fanatics are already lauding the "futuristic" building and its many "groundbreaking" features. But few are aware that Apple's monumental project is already outdated, mimicking a half-century of stagnant suburban corporate campuses that isolated themselves—by design—from the communities their products were supposed to impact.
In the 1940s and '50s, when American corporations first flirted with a move to the 'burbs, CEOs realized that horizontal architecture immersed in a park-like buffer lent big business a sheen of wholesome goodness. The exodus was triggered, in part, by inroads the labor movement was making among blue-collar employees in cities. At the same time, the increasing diversity of urban populations meant it was getting harder and harder to maintain an all-white workforce. One by one, major companies headed out of town for greener pastures, luring desired employees into their gilded cages with the types of office perks familiar to any Googler.
Rockstar coders don't do suburbs?
(Score: 3, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday October 20 2016, @09:28PM
There isn't enough housing in Silicon Valley; lots of people have to commute from Gilroy in the South, even from Santa Cruz.
The newspaper once reported that this was due to city planners favoring commercial zoning because it provided more tax income. This leads to vast industrial parks and vast traffic jams.
There are busses and light rail but they are not widely used. Vancouver British Columbia has lots of high-rises. It's public transport is very popular.
For public transport to work you need high-density housing as well as high-density workplaces so that one doesn't have to walk too far to get to and from the transit stop.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]