Comment by stfsbrb | Hacker News Reader

Comment by stfsbrb | Hacker News Reader

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Articles like this one always seem to imply that the techies are all sitting comfortably with a giant money vault like Scrooge McDuck, laughing at everyone else and refusing to share. That just isn't the case. In reality, few of them actually have any real financial security. Most work for startups that are living on borrowed time and may not be here in a year or two. Few of them own any real assets such as real estate, so they end up renting just like everyone else. How many who ride these buses even own cars?

They all know in the back of their minds that the current boom is just as transient as any other, meaning they could be unemployed and forced to leave at any time. It is difficult to build a strong community on such shaky ground.

Articles like this one always seem to imply that the techies are all sitting comfortably with a giant money vault like Scrooge McDuck, laughing at everyone else and refusing to share.

Articles like this one also ignore the simple, obvious solution: remove height restrictions and mandatory parking minimums. Developers will build up, supply will increase, and housing costs will fall.

The problem is that many of the same people complaining about high prices don't seem to like the only real means of alleviating the issue; I wrote more about this here: https://jseliger.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/connecting-the-dot... .

See the same problem in Austin, Texas. People that have lived here forever (justifiably) aren't thrilled with the fact that rent has gone way up as a result of the city's boom. But the very same people actively oppose the construction of new housing.

I really don't think people understand that if the demand increases, the way to keep the cost form increasing as much is to increase the supply.

You forgot the bit where the tech giants are sitting on warchests with (tens of) $billions in actual giant money vaults like Scrooge McDuck, laughing at everyone else and refusing to share.

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