In the hometown of Google, abject poverty meets unfathomable wealth

[Newsjock]

Today's issue of the local Mountain View Voice newspaper has two important stories about the housing situation in Mountain View.

http://mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=7235
As rents rise, struggling tenants face uncertain future

As rents in their once-affordable neighborhood skyrocket, longtime apartment dwellers on Mountain View's California Street say they have no good options.

... "Pretty soon I won't be able to stay here," said resident Wanda, who works as a records technician in a law office. "Rents are rising every year by $100 at least."

Wanda and her neighbors pay $1,400 for a one-bedroom apartment in their building near Escuela Avenue, which is below average. The average cost of a one bedroom apartment in Mountain View rose from $1,426 in 2009 to $1,828 in 2012, according to data service Real Facts.

... The women said it has become common to rent out living room space, which has created a dangerous situation for the households' children. Pacheco said she knew of a case where a girl was raped.

Meanwhile, just a mile away:
http://mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=7236
Huge demand for pricey new apartments

... "We're 100-percent occupied, which is really crazy," said Jon Moss, vice president of Prometheus Real Estate Group, of the 209-unit complex which opened in January at 455 West Evelyn Ave. "That's usually not the case."

What's more surprising is what tenants here have been willing to pay for rent. Advertised rents for a two bedroom unit range from $5,263 to $6,711 a month. When the project was approved by the City Council in 2010, Prometheus estimated a monthly rent of $2,500 for the two-bedroom apartments.

... Moss' favorite amenity is a rooftop patio atop the four-story side of the building, which tenants can use for private parties, overlooking the city while sitting around a fireplace or barbecuing under a trellis. On the first and second floor there's a community room with a kitchen and lounge area, a 15-seat theater, a video game room where the walls are covered by thousands of Lego bricks and an array of flat screens.

There's a dedicated yoga and meditation room, and an exercise room with an 18-foot tall painting of Muhammad Ali. Outside the glass doors of the lounge there's a resort-like pool with a double sided fireplace separating it from a jacuzzi that lights up at night. In and around the common areas funky art pieces are everywhere -- in the kitchen there's a large picture of Julia Childs while a cluster of Etch-A-Sketches hang in a hallway.

[Egnever]

1. Tough situation

Not sure how you can stop this one though or even if you should.

The concentration of cash there is incredible.

[bluestate10]

5. Yes. Mountain View, Santa Clara, then it goes upscale from there to South Palo Alto, which is

more downscale. The region is packed with highly educated professionals, many spouses earning mid six figure salaries each. Not a good region to be poor in. Even south of the Mountain View and San Jose has become high priced, that region was farmland at one time. But, the young and ambitious still flock to the area and many go on to make magic with their artistry and technical innovations.

[lumberjack_jeff]

14. Living with the flip side of the issue is really frustrating.

In my county, the unemployment rate is 12.1%, the median house value is $160,000 and the median household income is $42,729. 1.5 hours away in Seattle the unemployment rate is 5.2%, the median family income is $68,000 and the median house value is $365,000.

The state has no income tax and relies upon local property and local sales taxes to fund services at the county level. Consequently, statewide services are starved and counties and schools are wholly dependent on the money they can raise locally. It stands to reason then that King County gets the best schools, the best services and the best support networks, and the rural counties get little.

So why don't any of those businesses move to my county? The most common reason given is because the wives of the decisionmakers can't find a home/school/shopping experience that befits their status in life.

[Gormy Cuss]

16. So the women are to blame?

Do you believe that's really the reason? Houses are so cheap in comparison that the families can have even bigger houses than they could dream about in Seattle AND there would be plenty of money left over for weekend trips to Seattle for shopping & culture. That leaves the schools, and there are several creative ways to address that.

What does your county do to attract business? Sounds like it's failing at it.

[lumberjack_jeff]

18. Anecdotally, yes.

I have personally met at least two entrepreneurs who investigate, then reject plans to locate their businesses in the area saying that "my family just won't go for it".

Another (a dot-com) did locate in the area, only on the condition that their sales office be maintained in downtown Seattle, for no apparent business reason whatsoever. I worked for this company, so I know that it's true in this case. If memory serves, they rented sales office space for $5.00 per sf while their main operation (which had lots of space available) was $0.50. The president of this company lived in Bellevue, and commuted to the main operation about twice a week.

I have also heard it from the people hired for economic development. They even have a special "task force" dedicated to schmoozing the spouses.

The economics are absolutely unambiguous. There is no rational business reason to not locate the businesses here. So you're left with: a) business people are irrational or b) their reasons aren't business reasons.

There are few creative ways to address the chronic underfunding of rural schools when they support themselves primarily with local property tax dollars.

[Gormy Cuss]

19. "My family" is not the same as "my wife."

Last edited Sat Aug 10, 2013, 11:20 PM - Edit history (1)

And entrepreneurs aren't only men, so your sample is a bit slanted.
It's not uncommon for businesses to let their key staff stay put while they move the rest of the operation to a cheaper locale. That's privilege reserved for the rainmakers and owners as a perk. To assume from your anecdote that the reason other companies don't move to your area is that the men's wives were the main reason for that is a bit ridiculous because it again assumes that the execs are men and the wives are the only ones who care about schools, cultural amenities, etc.

The economic development staff may not be very good at their jobs.

On schools, encouraging a public-private partnership to enhance the schools is one creative way to change the perception of the overall quality. The new corporation is seen as a good neighbor if it sponsors an art or sports program or helps raise funds for classroom amenities like technology, for example.

[CreekDog]

20. i thought it was because they didn't want their wives to hvae to live near a misogynist

[REP]

2. That rent on Escuela is incredibly LOW for downtown MTV

I paid about that for a studio 3 blocks off downtown from 1998 to 2007.

[madville]

3. Sound like that new Matt Damon movie

Same kind of divide the movie is about

[Starry Messenger]

4. k&r

[hfojvt]

6. that apartment does sound kinda cool

but why the heck would I want to pay $60,000 a year in rent, even if I could? In my world, I BOUGHT a pretty nice house (as these things go, I mean it is a 126 year old house) for $35,000.

True, I don't have a dedicated yogurt room, or a large picture of Julia Child (not sure why I would want one (to impress Maddy McCall maybe?)), but I also don't have neighbors tromping around upstairs. I don't have to worry if I crank my music at two in the morning, or decide at any given time to practice my trumpet or yell at the computer when I play some bad chess.

Plus. more to the point, I do not have $60,000 a year in living expenses. Plus, I can own three dogs (but why would I want to? :crazy

[diane in sf]

12. You'd be lucky to find a $400k house within an hour of that location.

[hfojvt]

17. would it be ten times as nice as mine

or just ten times as costly?

All the more reason to live five hours away and telecommute.

[vanlassie]

13. Don't you think it's hardly worth living when you don't have a yogurt room, tho?

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. omg. that area is so expensive

I have sympathy for low income living up there

[bhikkhu]

8. Areas of concentrated wealth are inevitable

and good too, for virtually everybody, as long as our tax codes are equitable and honestly observed. I'm very fond of wealthy people who value the people they live among, and support their communities, their state, and their country. People who are very productive and very good at making money at things are dependent on the people that they make money from, and the taxes they pay make for the kind of healthy inter-dependence that societies are built from.

On the other hand, where tax codes allow unchecked concentrations of wealth, where people don't recognize that they are part of a greater whole and seek to insulate and separate themselves, and where wealth is hidden, squirrelled away, and taxes and all social responsibility is denounced, then societies break down.

[Safetykitten]

9. Did you lift what you just wrote from the "Democrats Guide To Better Living"?

[bhikkhu]

10. No.

is that an actual book?

[TBF]

11. ...

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. Lifted from "Better Living Through Wealthy People."