$150 Million Apple Fund Launches With Goal of Building Affordable Housing in California Bay Area

[Solomani]

If you can find any other place that will pay you anywhere near as well...

The key to Silicon Valley is too live well below ones means (think ramen and sleeping on couches), until one can save enough cash from that 6 figure starting salary to move far away and buy that big house on 10 acres in some other state (not CA). I know several engineers who did well on that plan. But that lifestyle choice is certainly not for everybody.

Umm (even while making > $120K) so you need to suffer and live miserably for a few years (eating ramen, sleeping in couches), until you can finally save up to live comfortably in the years after.

Ummm.... those lost years of living miserably, you'll never get it back. 🤷‍♂️

 

[il_teo77]

Ok. It'll good and right. But... What about some good taste in architecture? It wouldn't cost more. Just be less ugly.

 

[cmaier]

Umm (even while making > $120K) so you need to suffer and live miserably for a few years (eating ramen, sleeping in couches), until you can finally save up to live comfortably in the years after.

Ummm.... those lost years of living miserably, you'll never get it back. 🤷‍♂️

Honestly, if you are straight out of school it’s not a bad idea. I lived not-quite-that-miserably when I first got out here, and it still felt like an upgrade compared to the flea trap and diet I was used to from my years in grad school.

 

[Gasu E.]

That building is absolutely hideous. Today's aesthetics will not age gracefully. Things like this will become dated very quickly.

There's always a market for retro. Think of 1980's movie memes, 1950's rock and roll, and 1960's left wing politics.

 

[compwiz1202]

The thing is though...It doesn't have to pay near as well. It's less about the amount you are paid...and more about the cost of living. If I left Illinois and took a job in Florida doing the same thing I'm doing in Illinois...I'd take a pretty decent pay cut in the process. But the cost of living in Florida...is much less than where I am now. Despite making less money in Florida, I could probably live my life even better there than I do in Illinois, simply because Illinois taxes the crap out of everything. My dollar would get me farther in Florida than it will in Illinois. I make $120k a year in Illinois. If I did the same job in Florida...I would be making $87k. When taxes are all said and done...$87k in Florida would probably get me farther than $120k in Illinois.

Exactly. It's all about income vs expenses.

 

[Solomani]

Honestly, if you are straight out of school it’s not a bad idea. I lived not-quite-that-miserably when I first got out here, and it still felt like an upgrade compared to the flea trap and diet I was used to from my years in grad school.

Sure I'll buy that. But living on couches and daily cup-o-noodles is not going to allow for any sort of meaningful advancement in life, especially not if they want to marry or have children any time soon.

But yes I get it. They are saving up money to be able to afford an expensive NorCal house of their own... some day.

 

[rodriguise]

Sure, some people can get even. But the opportunity for massive income is pretty high in Silicon Valley - between revenue sharing, stock options, bonuses, etc - most engineers make a lot more than their salaries here.

I disagree, considering 90% of startups fail, most do not make a lot more than their salaries. The best they can hope for is a mediocre acquisition that nets them zero after accounting for the high cost of living.
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Tim really wants cheaper employees.

Which is more than evident in the downward slide of quality from Apple.

 

[cmaier]

I disagree, considering 90% of startups fail, most do not make a lot more than their salaries. The best they can hope for is a mediocre acquisition that nets them zero after accounting for the high cost of living.
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Which is more than evident in the downward slide of quality from Apple.

you don’t just get stock options at startups - they give them out at established companies too. Heck, even employee stock purchase plans guarantee abunch of income.

if you are just coding websites, that’s not the kind of job I’m talking about.

 

[fhopper]

Just, wow.

First, affordable housing often works. Second, this is not free housing. Third, this is very different than the “projects.” In Silicon Valley, a 1000-square foot house on a 6000 square foot lot can cost more than a million dollars. The house next door to me is 800-square feet, completely run down, and zillow has it at $900k. I haven’t had to rent in years, but back when I did, my 600-square foot apartment was more than $2000 a month, and by now I’m sure it’s a lot more.

So when they say “affordable housing,” they mean housing that a family with an income of, say, $150k a year can afford, not housing that is free.

IMHO Any kind of pricing controls that are not market driven are simply wrong in this country. Please put an alert in your calendar app for 2025 and check up on these Projects. We in the Great Plains simply cannot abide the absurdity of the Bay Area life style. I am a retired teacher in a lovely home that is paid for and note my avatar... Urbanites have traded "the good life" for more money. I guess VALUE never enters the equation for people in the Bay Area. FWIW I was a Project Manager for the original Newer Technology (in the late '90s), I have stayed in the hotels at Union Square and the Wharf... dumps. I have stayed at an Apple Scientist's apartment... a shoe box. What good does 200k a year do anyone if you cannot live better than teacher making 40k. Anywho good on you and I hope you understand there are options to the soul sucking trade offs made by Silicon Valley workers which drive the posts like mine.

 

[firewood]

Umm (even while making > $120K) so you need to suffer and live miserably for a few years (eating ramen, sleeping in couches), until you can finally save up to live comfortably in the years after.

Ummm.... those lost years of living miserably, you'll never get it back. 🤷‍♂️

Ummm... eating ramen (on weekends) and sleeping on (clean warm) couches, plus the perks of most professional level Silicon Valley jobs, still puts your living standards above probably 75% of the world's population (and tons of U.S. college students). Such misery.

Maybe teaches one a bit more empathy.

 

[MacLoveMacHate]

Apple Home SE

 

[pray2crom]

In the bay area, especially in Orinda, walnut creek, Lafayette, and even in Oakland you have houses with 1 bed and 1 bath at 800 square feet going for 900k and more.......instead just throwing more money at the problem why not look into the forces that allow the market to charge such ridiculous amounts of money for such crap?

 

[cmaier]

IMHO Any kind of pricing controls that are not market driven are simply wrong in this country. Please put an alert in your calendar app for 2025 and check up on these Projects. We in the Great Plains simply cannot abide the absurdity of the Bay Area life style. I am a retired teacher in a lovely home that is paid for and note my avatar... Urbanites have traded "the good life" for more money. I guess VALUE never enters the equation for people in the Bay Area. FWIW I was a Project Manager for the original Newer Technology (in the late '90s), I have stayed in the hotels at Union Square and the Wharf... dumps. I have stayed at an Apple Scientist's apartment... a shoe box. What good does 200k a year do anyone if you cannot live better than teacher making 40k. Anywho good on you and I hope you understand there are options to the soul sucking trade offs made by Silicon Valley workers which drive the posts like mine.

1) I've been to the Great Plains. False advertising. They're not that great.

2) There are already such projects that have been around here for the last 20 years. They are fine, and nothing at all like the "projects."

3) There is nothing wrong with the hotels in union square. Certainly much nicer than the Motel 6 in Des Moines.

4) "Urbanites have traded 'the good life'?" We have good lives here. I have a four bedroom house, with a yard, a dog, a parrot, a wife and a little girl (in reverse order of importance). We have a diverse group of friends from different cultural backgrounds and nationalities that enrich our lives with their unique traditions and perspectives, and provide examples to my daughter that help prevent her from becoming a narrow-minded bigot. We have a massive array of great restaurants, cultural institutions, hiking trails, easy access to the beach, and major league professional sports. Everything is expensive, and it takes a combination of working hard, luck, and perseverance to afford it, but the reason people stay here is because it is worth it.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

In the bay area, especially in Orinda, walnut creek, Lafayette, and even in Oakland you have houses with 1 bed and 1 bath at 800 square feet going for 900k and more.......instead just throwing more money at the problem why not look into the forces that allow the market to charge such ridiculous amounts of money for such crap?

Is that you Bernie?

 

[Solomani]

Apple Home SE

I'd like to live in an Apple Home Pro Max. How much more is that?

 

[myrtlebee]

There's always a market for retro. Think of 1980's movie memes, 1950's rock and roll, and 1960's left wing politics.

I'm sorry my avatar triggered you.

 

[spinedoc77]

Hope it helps!

I used to live in the Bay Area. Last I heard was something like less than $115k (somewhere around there) makes you low income, pretty much everywhere in the Bay Area. I used to live in East Contra Costa County. The town I was in was a small farm town at the time in the early 90s. It must have gone from "affordable farm town" to "money town", because I've heard that even there, you'll struggle on 6 figures and if you aren't 6 figures...you're basically screwed.

How far out were you? I used to live in Oakley in the early 90s (did a stint in Discovery Bay even farther east), it wasn't farm country but it was very very non city suburban. I used to ride my motorcycle through Vasco Road to get to the city, that was always fun with the trucks and the fog, not sure how I made it all those years. But even then, almost 30 years ago, the norm was for most to commute those 2 hours because you couldn't afford to live in SF. Rents weren't so bad though, I rented a studio in Piedmont and it was nice and fairly affordable and a really nice town.

 

[iOS Geek]

How far out were you? I used to live in Oakley in the early 90s (did a stint in Discovery Bay even farther east), it wasn't farm country but it was very very non city suburban. I used to ride my motorcycle through Vasco Road to get to the city, that was always fun with the trucks and the fog, not sure how I made it all those years. But even then, almost 30 years ago, the norm was for most to commute those 2 hours because you couldn't afford to live in SF. Rents weren't so bad though, I rented a studio in Piedmont and it was nice and fairly affordable and a really nice town.

I lived in Brentwood. At the time, it was something like 7000 people. Vasco was also my way! Tuesday-Saturday, going down that road at 4am! Those were the days 😂

 

[citysnaps]

you don’t just get stock options at startups - they give them out at established companies too. Heck, even employee stock purchase plans guarantee abunch of income.

if you are just coding websites, that’s not the kind of job I’m talking about.

And bonuses. I've found them to be quite substantial relative to salary.

 

[CarlJ]

I'd like to live in an Apple Home Pro Max. How much more is that?

<pinky finger to corner of mouth>One hundred BILLION dollars!

 

[VictorTango777]

Sounds like a good plan could be to work for a company out there where you can work remotely. Collect the 6 figures while living somewhere with cheaper housing.

Until other highly paid workers get the same idea and start moving there, causing prices to go up. And the cycle continues.

 

[VictorTango777]

Any studies showing what would happen if Apple, Google, and Amazon moved to more affordable states? Might solve the housing problems.

If those companies moved, wouldn't it just be a matter of time until those states begin to have housing problems?
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It's not that "affordable housing" needs building, it's that housing regulations, restrictions, and tax codes need liberalizing to allow housing to do what comes naturally in a free market.

Are there vested interests who want to keep housing scarce so they can continue to profit from skyrocketing home prices? For example, people in certain communities voting against building more single or multi family homes there.

I also hear the argument "what about the people who (over)paid top dollar for houses that would surely go down in price if more affordable housing was available?" How is their situation any different from people who lost big in the stock market? As certain people like to point out, "It's a free market", "buyer beware", etc. So why should we have any sympathy for real estate speculators who contributed to the housing problem?

Also, how many Costcos, Walmarts and giant shopping plazas do we need in a single city?

 

[fhopper]

1) I've been to the Great Plains. False advertising. They're not that great.

2) There are already such projects that have been around here for the last 20 years. They are fine, and nothing at all like the "projects."

3) There is nothing wrong with the hotels in union square. Certainly much nicer than the Motel 6 in Des Moines.

4) "Urbanites have traded 'the good life'?" We have good lives here. I have a four bedroom house, with a yard, a dog, a parrot, a wife and a little girl (in reverse order of importance). We have a diverse group of friends from different cultural backgrounds and nationalities that enrich our lives with their unique traditions and perspectives, and provide examples to my daughter that help prevent her from becoming a narrow-minded bigot. We have a massive array of great restaurants, cultural institutions, hiking trails, easy access to the beach, and major league professional sports. Everything is expensive, and it takes a combination of working hard, luck, and perseverance to afford it, but the reason people stay here is because it is worth it.

Thanks for the reply... Well as the Rock Man once said, "your hear what you want to hear and you see what you want to see" or as the Pterodactyl put it " it is all about our point of view". Make sure your little girl gets a copy of Harry Nilsson's The Point, it is wonderful.

 

[dan110]

This is not a money problem. This is a State of California regulations problem.

 

[cmaier]

This is not a money problem. This is a State of California regulations problem.

In part. In part it’s the fact that there are so many millionaires that prices rise. In part it’s the fact that Silicon Valley is an actual valley, hemmed in by water and mountains, so there are geographical limitations that prevent flexibility in housing and commutes. In part it’s a NIMBY spirit where people don’t want to allow higher density construction near transit. In part it’s the fact that people have so much of their net worth wrapped up in the equity in their houses caused by massive real estate inflation, so they don’t want to increase supply. In part it’s prop 13 which effectively shifts the tax burden to new home buyers.

It’s a lot of things.