Google Buses: The Great San Francisco Tragedy of Gentrification and Bus Stop Abuse - Politics and Economics

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Google Buses: The Great San Francisco Tragedy of Gentrification and Bus Stop Abuse

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12-09-2013 , 05:49 PM

pvn

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Hippies in SF are confirmed furious that google is abusing public resources in San Francisco. The resource in question? The bus stop. Apparently, google's shuttle bus stops in the same general location as city buses sometimes stop and this is... over the line? So mad hippies are like boarding the google buses and sitting in on them. Like modern day Rosa Parks.

And it gets better! They have their own fake counterprotestors! some guy pretends to be a google employee and gives some loud obnoxious tone-deaf response!

http://www.sfbg.com/googleshoutdown

12-09-2013 , 06:03 PM

JayTeeMe

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Cliffs on why google buses anger people?

12-09-2013 , 06:06 PM

bobman0330

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Quote:

Originally Posted by JayTeeMe

Cliffs on why google buses anger people?

I'm sure fly will be in here with a picturesque metaphor involving Russian serfs and their cows at any moment.

12-09-2013 , 06:06 PM

goofyballer

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Hahaha wow. I've seen non-city buses stopping at bus stops and never given it a second thought. I love that people are furious about it though, it's what makes this city beautiful.

12-09-2013 , 06:41 PM

pvn

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Quote:

Originally Posted by JayTeeMe

Cliffs on why google buses anger people?

A couple of my FB friends who work at Google mentioned this on their pages, some comment highlights:

Quote:

If google is privatizing what should be a public resource, that may be a bit of a problem.

Quote:

If San Francisco's cultural infrastructure helps google attract and retain their employees by maintaining a wealth of museums, festivals, schools, and roads, then I think it would be appropriate for google, the company, to kick in to maintain that infrastructure in San Francisco, rather than expect the San Francisco to subsidize the cultural life of Google employees, while Google only pays taxes in Mountain View.

Quote:

Google is swapping out diversity in terms of kinds of people, kinds of roles, kinds of income for one kind of person. This is a person who has their bed in SF but doesn't actually invest in SF. The Google busses facilitate turning SF into a bedroom community of Mountain View. If people had to gasp actually drive then they might just go live in Mountain View and stop destroying SF.

Quote:

It has always really irritated me that instead of investing in the public transportation system and making that better for everyone Google has turned to private busses and self-driving cars.

cliffnotes: "I liked things the way they were and I don't understand economics"

12-09-2013 , 06:45 PM

pvn

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Someone linked this as well:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n03/rebecca-solnit/diary

Quote:

The buses roll up to San Francisco’s bus stops in the morning and evening, but they are unmarked, or nearly so, and not for the public. They have no signs or have discreet acronyms on the front windshield, and because they also have no rear doors they ingest and disgorge their passengers slowly, while the brightly lit funky orange public buses wait behind them. The luxury coach passengers ride for free and many take out their laptops and begin their work day on board; there is of course wifi. Most of them are gleaming white, with dark-tinted windows, like limousines, and some days I think of them as the spaceships on which our alien overlords have landed to rule over us.

12-09-2013 , 06:45 PM

pvn

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THEY HAS WIFI, DA BASTIDGES

12-09-2013 , 06:46 PM

goofyballer

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What on earth is comment #3 talking about? Mountain View has all the great food and nightlife, it's just more convenient to pay astronomical rent to sleep in SF and spend all your time elsewhere? What the I don't even

(side note: does seem like it would be a problem if they're slowing down public buses by clogging up the bus stops, but I'm not sure if that's actually happening)

12-09-2013 , 06:51 PM

pvn

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yeah I don't see how you can say someone isn't investing in SF when they just live there and pay taxes there and do all their stuff there.

12-09-2013 , 06:57 PM

#10

JayTeeMe

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Quote:

Originally Posted by goofyballer

(side note: does seem like it would be a problem if they're slowing down public buses by clogging up the bus stops, but I'm not sure if that's actually happening)

yes, that would be the only legit complaint.

But it appears that the main problem is somebody else has nice things.

12-09-2013 , 07:00 PM

#11

ikestoys

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So the real question is how ****ing ******ed you have to be to think that's a good use of your time.

12-09-2013 , 07:27 PM

#12

[Phill]

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Quote:

Originally Posted by pvn

Is it confirmed that the guy is a fake Google employee? I saw someone suggesting that earlier today in the comments section of (iirc) Valleywag but it was just evidence-less conspiracy talk.

12-09-2013 , 07:32 PM

#13

Riverman

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Take note, this is what real liberals are like. Arguably even more tilting than right wingers because they really, truly believe they are superior people. Right wingers know its all a ruse to either get money or suppress minorities/women/poor people.

12-09-2013 , 07:48 PM

#14

goofyballer

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We're fake liberals?

12-09-2013 , 07:50 PM

#15

pvn

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New comment cliffnotes: "hey guys it's not just the techies to blame, don't forget about DEM SPECULATORS"

12-09-2013 , 08:32 PM

#16

Trolly McTrollson

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Pretty sure most far right wingnuts believe they are superior people.

12-09-2013 , 08:45 PM

#17

MrWookie

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Most people believe they are superior people.

12-09-2013 , 08:47 PM

#18

Dids

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Riverman

I get the people you're talking about but "real liberals" is a really goofy way to define that. It's more "the comfortable yet reactionary left".

Mostly, it's a bunch of *******s being *******s, I'm not sure it speaks to anything more than that.

12-09-2013 , 09:52 PM

#19

pvn

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Quote:

Originally Posted by [Phill]

Is it confirmed that the guy is a fake Google employee? I saw someone suggesting that earlier today in the comments section of (iirc) Valleywag but it was just evidence-less conspiracy talk.

He admitted it was "political theater".

http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2013/12...max-bell-alper

12-10-2013 , 06:27 AM

#20

2/325Falcon

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Send those Google buses into the food deserts of SF imo.

12-10-2013 , 10:12 AM

#21

suzzer99

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Quote:

Originally Posted by JayTeeMe

Cliffs on why google buses anger people?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3768505.html

http://benparr.com/2013/08/tech-comm...san-francisco/

12-10-2013 , 12:51 PM

#22

suzzer99

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Dids

The president shaking somebody's hand was "sensitive material" that I had to opt-in to see.

Those articles wegoinsizzler posted rile me the **** up. The first one is just one guy being a tool, and the second feels like some needy assed feelings having bull****. ****ing hippies.

Meh - regardless of your opinion on hippies, San Francisco is a pretty special place whereas Sili Valley = Orange County with more money. I'd be pretty pissed too if I still lived in SF and saw khaki-wearing commuting Google turds turning my neighborhood into a sterile bedroom community. They like the culture of SF but add nothing to it themselves.

12-10-2013 , 01:16 PM

#23

goofyballer

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Quote:

Originally Posted by suzzer99

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3768505.html

http://benparr.com/2013/08/tech-comm...san-francisco/

Haha, one of the links in the 2nd piece has an A+++ picture of a Google bus stuck on the street from traversing too abrupt a grade change on a hill.

But yeah these are all just awful hand-wringing over anecdotes.

12-10-2013 , 01:18 PM

#24

pvn

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Quote:

Originally Posted by suzzer99

lol

fwiw, the guy who I know that led to me seeing this on FB does all sorts of stupid hippie "art" things in the city, he has this huge tent at BM every year and does some sort of preverted debauchery sex thing with a bunch of fat chicks, it's right up their alley. He's also always at some event in victorian garb and has a waxed moustache, so he can't be a CULTURE MURDERER I don't think. He wears a FREAKING BOWTIE in his FB profile pic, FFS.