I believe that this is a wildly mistaken interpretation of what is happening to us. We are suffering, not from the rheumatics of old age, but from the growing-pains of over-rapid changes, from the painfulness of readjustment between one economic period and another…”
John Maynard Keynes, Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren (1930)
The Bay area has added half a million jobs since 2000, but only built 54,000 new units of housing. Therein lies the root of the region’s affordability crisis: Lots of new tech-related jobs, but not a lot of places to put those new employees. That means workers have to commute much longer distances, and an already overstressed transportation infrastructure now groans with commuters stuck in endless congestion.
Traffic and sky-high housing prices mean the best paid workers will spend top dollar to live near a city center — and that means gentrification. Blue collar workers, artists, and pensioners are pushed out and marginalized, sometimes moving into unsafe spaces not meant for communal living. Such was the case in Oakland earlier this Fall, when a deadly fire broke out in a warehouse occupied by artists and young people, killing nearly 40.
Read MoreHere’s a round up of the top stories in the NewCo world today, from the NewCo Daily newsletter:
Right now, the urban/rural divide that fractures U.S. politics looks awfully clear and simple. But the deeper you look into it, the more complex it gets. While race, gender, and other factors also play big roles, the country-city split that dates back to the nation’s founding may still be the most powerful axis on which our government, economy, and culture all revolve. Here are three illuminating new angles on this division.
Read MoreSome of these urban mobile dwellings, with names like Lazy Daze, Sunrader, Holiday Rambler and Southwind, have come far from their romantic and utopian origins.
