The technology giant is considered to be the chief culprit in the Bay Area “housing crisis”.
Editor’s note: This article is from Daily Economic News , author: Sun Zhicheng, authorized reprint
Speaking of Silicon Valley, the first thing people think of is the thriving technology industry, but behind the rapid economic development, the problems of Silicon Valley and its San Francisco Bay Area are gradually exposed, that is, the housing prices that are daunting.
Not only ordinary wage earners, but even Silicon Valley programmers who have always been known for their high salary are also worried about the house. There was a group of Google employees who lived in the company in order to save rent.
High housing prices have forced many young people who want to work hard in Silicon Valley, and the tech giants who know that “talent is fighting power” have to act.
Apple contributes $2.5 billion to alleviate the housing crisis
According to China Daily, the Washington Post reported on the 4th that Apple Inc. said on the same day that it would provide $2.5 billion in funding for a housing project to ease the growing housing crisis in the San Francisco Bay Area, including California. And the $1 billion affordable housing investment fund provided by other entities, as well as the $1 billion aid fund for first-time home buyer mortgages.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a blog post on Monday, “Before the world knows the name Silicon Valley, before we mastered the technology, Apple called this place home. We are deep Citizenship is responsible for ensuring that Silicon Valley is a vibrant place where people can live, have their own families and contribute to society. Affordable housing means stability and dignity, opportunity and pride. When it comes to resolution, our development is unsustainable, and Apple is committed to contributing to solving these problems.”
Cook pointed out in the article that nearly 30,000 people left San Francisco between April and June this year, which made the Bay Area’s housing ownership reach the lowest level in seven years. He said that teachers, firefighters and service personnel urgently need to make difficult choices and leave the community they have long called home.
The above commitments also include Apple’s $300 million worth of affordable housing; Apple will also donate $150 million to the affordable housing fund with local non-profit housing trusts and provide $50 million to resolve Home can be a problem.
However, this action plan quickly attracted criticism. Hours of the US Democratic Party candidate after Apple’s press release on MondaySaunders accused the company of “hypocrisy”, suggesting that its tax problems have led to housing problems.
It is worth noting that before Apple announced the above news, other technology companies such as Google have made housing commitments.
According to Observer Network, in January this year, Microsoft said it would spend $500 million to develop new homes near Seattle’s headquarters to ease local high prices.
In June, Google said that the company will set aside social responsibility to convert its own value of about $750 million to residential land, develop at least 15,000 new homes, and spend $250 million. Let the builders build 5,000 new homes.
In October, Facebook announced that it will invest up to $1 billion to ease the housing crisis in California. Facebook said: “Facebook’s mission is to build and support community development, both online and offline. We are committed to spending $1 billion to help solve the housing crisis in California and the communities in which we work.”
How expensive is the San Francisco Bay Area?
As early as 2005, there was a small group of Google employees who lived in the company in order to save on rent. They are prepared in the Google cafeteria for three meals a day, and the bath is in the gym dedicated to employees. Some set up their own tents, and some slept in the car.
A former Google employee named Ben Discoe lived in the car for a year.
“I bought a 1990 GMC van for $1,800, which is my 13-month full rent.” Disco wrote on the American quiz social networking site Quora.
According to the property platform Zillow’s October data, San Francisco’s median house price is up to 1.35 million US dollars; Mountain View City 1.73 million US dollars; Menlo Park (2.2 million US dollars); Apple headquarters in Cupertino (Cupertino) $2.07 million.
Due to the rapid development of the technology industry, house prices in the San Francisco Bay Area have risen rapidly. Many people come here to have a career, build a family and settle down. After a few years, they find that the house can’t afford it.
The tech giant has long been considered the culprit of the Bay Area “housing crisis”. In order to meet the expansion needs, these technology giants have been madly taking land in the past few years, seriously occupying the commercial land and land resources of other non-tech companies.
At the Google shareholders’ meeting in June this year, a San Jose resident accused the company of pushing up local prices and was “crowing out of the Bay Area”.
According to the 2018 data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a comprehensive assessment of household income and housing costs in the San Francisco metropolitan area yielded an annual income of $117,400 (approximately RMB 820,000). )The family of four will be assessed as “low income.”
From a national perspective, the median household income of a family of four is $91,000 (about 630,000 yuan), and the median household income of all households is $59,000 (about 410,000 yuan). This number is equivalent to half of the “low-income” families in San Francisco. According to HUD data, in San Francisco, the annual income of 73,300 US dollars (about 484,000 yuan) is already “very low income.” In other words, San Francisco’s income standards are much higher than other regions. According to the annual income of $117,400, nearly two-thirds of all families in the United States are classified as “low-income” families.