Google Co-Opts Whale-Watching Boat To Ferry Employees 373
theodp writes "Purportedly intended to defuse tensions over gentrification that have led to blockades and vandalism of Google's ubiquitous shuttles (video), which make use of public San Francisco bus stops (map), Wired reports that Google is now chartering a ferry to take its workers from SF to Silicon Valley. 'We certainly don't want to cause any inconvenience to SF residents, and we're trying alternative ways to get Googlers to work,' Google explained. Inconveniencing whale-seeking visitors to The Aquarium of the Pacific, however, is apparently not considered evil. After learning that Google had co-opted the $4 million, 83-foot, 150-passenger whale-watching catamaran MV/Triumphant to ferry as few as 30-40 Googlers to work, some expressed concerns on Facebook that Google would be The Grinch That Stole Whale Watching Season (not to worry; the boat's slated to make its 'triumphant' return to Long Beach after Google's '30-day trial')."
I'm just waiting . (Score:2, Interesting)
One day, Google is just going to build a space station and all of their workers will be up there. Then other companies will follow suit.
Eventually, all that will be left on the hot drought stricken planet will be the unemployable dregs with no skills and no worthwhile education - you know, all those losers that companies say have no skills or inadequate education. And the folks who don't fit into the corporate culture *cough*too old*cough*.
Then in the meantime, when those losers complain about job prostpects, the elite will point fingers and say "Oh Gee! First World Problems!" and other BS - while they continually lobby for more of the folks from countries exporting their poverty.
And I'd like to point out that yes, I do have First World problems. See, my ancestors were smart enough to treat their women as equals and not less than cattle. They were smart enough to implelment a democratically elected governmental system and not fall for the liars who want to create an authortarian control government and economy. And they were smart enough to realize that a government needs to be secular in order to be just.
So, I got lucky - I had wise ancestors who learned from the stupidity of the rest of the World. And I am grateful.
I resent the billionaire class trying to hide their true intentions by calling smart, hard working, decent people inadequate in order to hide their exploitation of Third World labor - like the Indians, Chinese, and other countries who didn't have the benefit of enlighted leaders and ancestors.
Re:Transportation is evil (Score:5, Interesting)
The protesters basically want Google employees to leave San Francisco and stop causing rents to go up. They are angry at Google for making it easier for the employees to live here. The better pay means landlords can charge higher rents, and the landlords are using a loophole (the Ellis act) to evict residents that have been there longer, which usually means (due to rent control) they're paying less.
It's not even an economic niche. It's an island that's being overtaken by rising tides, and the field mouse on the island are protesting the schools of fish that are taking up residence.
Re:Citation Needed (Score:3, Interesting)
"It is a symptom of an unhealthy housing situation" caused by Prop 13 making commercial development more attractive than residential development to those interested in building a tax base.
Re:Whalewatching (Score:3, Interesting)
Are the Google programmers not old enough to drive or what's going on there? Why does Google have to drive them to school^wwork like a soccer mom?
One bus displaces 30 to 60 cars.
If more companies did this our streets would be less crowded.
It seems the main point of contention here is that these buses made an arrangement with the city to use existing
bus stops, (which didn't inconvenience anybody and simply made better use of a public resource).
Had they set up their own bus stops, on private property, perhaps near park-and-ride lots I suspect the protests
would have been exactly the same.
Because this issue isn't about the buses. Its racism, pure and simple.
These Google employees bring hundreds of millions of dollars to the communities they live in.
That creates jobs and income for everything from the groceries bagger to the car dealers and the condo builders.
It also drives out crime, because educated affluent people demand better policing and more police.
Oakland, of all cities needs crime reduction [sfgate.com], by any means possible, including affluent tax payers.
But crime doesn't like to be driven out. And the gangs start fighting back by stirring up trouble, trying
to build an US vs THEM sentiment in the community. Make no mistake, "Gentrification" is a racist concept.
Re: Citation Needed (Score:1, Interesting)
There is a flip side to this. I have elderly family that lives on Mercer Island in Seattle, Wa. Washington doesn't have a prop-13-like law to keep property taxes fixed. When they moved there and built their house, there was almost nothing there. Since that time, the island has been developed significantly and most of the properties in their area go for $1m+. They're fixed-income retirees who simply want to continue to live in the house they've inhabited for the past 50 years. But their house is continually appraised for more and more money and their property taxes have become overly expensive to the point where they're eating into what little savings they have. At this point, it's looking like they'll be forced to sell.
Granted, when they do sell, they'll probably get between $1m and $2m for it, but as 90+ year olds, they really won't be able to enjoy that money and moving will be a traumatic experience...many elderly people don't survive when they're forced to uproot their lives like that. Legislation like prop 13 does protect retirees from having their property taxes inflated through no fault of their own.