The Million Dollar Shack and Silicon Valley’s Housing Crisis

The Million Dollar Shack and Silicon Valley’s Housing Crisis

Almost every software developer dreams about an opportunity to join tech giants like Apple, Google, Facebook or Hooli. But what really happens when a tech giant moves into your neighborhood? With rising salaries comes rising property costs and with rising property costs comes foreign investors profiting big – yet leaving houses empty. In some cases, employees choose to live out of a car or even a box truck.

This Google Employee Lives In a Box Truck

This Google Employee Lives In a Box Truck

When Brandon accepted a position at Google, he realized that most of his out-of-work life would be spent commuting to an apartment he would use for pretty much just sleeping. Although he could technically afford an apartment, like many in the Bay area, he’d be spending most of his income on rent and utilities and wouldn’t be able to pay down student debts or save any money. His solution? A box truck.

Google to become giant conglomerate called Alphabet/ Sundar Pichai named new Google CEO

Google to become giant conglomerate called Alphabet/ Sundar Pichai named new Google CEO

Google is out and Alphabet is in. With anti-trust issues in Europe and so many unique branches making up the current Google (AdWords, YouTube, Gmail, Docs, Maps, Cars, etc, etc, etc), it’s no longer your grandmother’s search engine. Instead of operating all of those subsidiary companies under the Google name, they’ll all be under a conglomerate called Alphabet.