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FB worker living in garage to Zuckerberg: challenges are right outside your door
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Zoe
Member
"Just move". Damn That shit is all over the thread too. Its really no wonder shit is as fucked as it is. And GAF leans left too. You know if you cant find any empathy here, then nationwide???? Whew....
We clearly have the situation we deserve.
SomedayTheFire
Member
Some of the replies in this thread are pretty terrifying. Y'all Americans are really stuck into that bootstraps bullshit
Noted. Agree it's a bit confusing without clarification
something something neoliberalism
It's not clear if it is their parent's garage or not. However it is a detached garage that's probably what they meant by having to go outside.
Not all of us but the problem in this case won't really be solved by a higher salary. They housing demands in that area are just too high. They need to have more housing to bring the costs down or these companies need to move to a different area.
LA != CA.
Besides, LA is not that great either.
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https://la.curbed.com/2015/3/18/9979526/housing-crisis-los-angeles-construction
Hypothetical but what happens when all the retail and service jobs get to the breaking point in SF? Like, it costs more to live there than what you can make in these jobs. It's been happening for a while, but isn't there going to eventually be a point at which no one can afford to live there and move out to get different jobs elsewhere? What then?
This is assuming this happens before everything is automated. That's the solution they assume is going to happen first, I'd think.
This is assuming this happens before everything is automated. That's the solution they assume is going to happen first, I'd think.
FaintDeftone
Junior Member
Something really needs to change in the Bay area if a couple both making $17 an hour can't support their family. That's just ridiculous. Here in Ohio you could live like a king on that kind of money.
He's taking vacation to the middle class! How enlightening.
KissDaRing
Banned
Ya you see your kids a few hours less a day but you get your own kitchen and washroom fascilities as well as bedrooms, closets space etc. The only sacrifice is a few hours a day. Y'all really just don't get it. They're living in a garage space. No rooms, no kitchen, no bathrooms. They got to leave the space to go somewhere else to use a bathroom. That's some fucked up shit. A move to an apartment would greatly improve their moral and way of life even if it means commuting a few hours a day.
Johnlenham
Member
73K holy jesus thats like £55K a year!
You do reach a point where you think yeah sure old Zucker could (and should) do something but realisticly that aint going to happen anytime soon.
My wife and I wernt earning that much in London, couldnt afford to buy so we moved. Now we own our own place and my commute to work is a 10 min bike ride, my wife walks.
Also just , if they have the space for a garage, surely they can knock it down and build a house ontop of that land?
You do reach a point where you think yeah sure old Zucker could (and should) do something but realisticly that aint going to happen anytime soon.
My wife and I wernt earning that much in London, couldnt afford to buy so we moved. Now we own our own place and my commute to work is a 10 min bike ride, my wife walks.
Also just , if they have the space for a garage, surely they can knock it down and build a house ontop of that land?
Look, the situation is clearly unfortunate, but there's clearly some poor planning and/or money mismanagement going on.
1) It's not responsible family building to have 3 kids that you can't afford to support.
2) Housing costs in the bay area are truly insane, but these people aren't paying rent and are still struggling to make ends meet. Something doesn't add up. Filing jointly making 72K a year with 3 dependents means they shouldn't have too crazy of taxes, either.
I'm all for recognizing the disadvantages our current economic system creates for the vast majority of people, but at a certain point you have to recognize that some issues are due to one's own behavior and choices.
Legally in these shit little liberal bastions, no.
We actually don't know if they are paying rent or not. Just that they live next to his parents.
Where are they going to live while they build a new place? Will the permits be approved to build to begin with? Also they can't afford to throw a birthday party where are they going to get the money to pay to build a house.
Frozenprince
Banned
3 hours is not "a few hours a day", both parents are working in order to make this livable, assume they work 9-5 every day, they get home at 8-9. You pay child care for those hours you're not there, which easily adds up to more than they "save" by moving.
You're the one "not getting it". It's not financially feasible to move and keep their jobs and have any kind of quality of living.
At that point you're not even parents anymore, you're money makers that scrape by to eek out a meager living while other people raise your children.
These people are not an outlier, you can literally take 5 minutes of your time to search that this is happening across the Valley. It's not "people don't know how to manage money" when it's an identifiable trend.
Good thing he's the kind to use cameras instead of guns for his safari.
KissDaRing
Banned
I'm being more than realistic. I'm not putting them down at all either. I've been in their situation and know what it's like. It's a small sacrifice in the bigger scope of things
RiccochetJ
Gold Member
How much is insurance in California?
I think like everywhere else it depends on your income. Does Obamacare take location into account when it decides who gets subsidies?
He should sue! That's below minimum wage
Frozenprince
Banned
Moving 3 hours away is in no way shape or form a "small sacrifice".
Zoning laws would prohibit this, a lot of options are suddenly off the table when the neighbors land value is threatened. Lots of extra construction like that is subject to a web of fuckery for good and bad reasons.
I've never understood why ultra liberal cities/areas like the Bay area don't change zoning laws and encourage a massive increase in affordable housing. Keep building huge apartment complexes to meet demand until prices finally get affordable for families like those in this story. NIMBYism just seems so anti-progressive to me, how can poor families ever make it in big cities if housing is insanely expensive?
KissDaRing
Banned
That's a very entitled mindset you have there. Having your kids grow up without bedrooms of their own or even their own washroom and a family kitchen causes more harm especially when parents are there venting their frustrations of their way of life which causes them to take it out on their kids as well and it vastly affects their development and growth. They move into an apartment with bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen and their whole life changes for the better. Even with a few hours less of parenting a day. Everyone gets some form of hope with such a lifestyle change. I'm providing a realistic solution. You're criticizing my method without providing anything of substance except that you disagree.
I'm not really talking about general trends. I'm talking about this specific case. Do you not see an issue with having 3 kids without the income to support them? Do you not agree that paying no rent should seemingly be enough financial help for them to at least make ends meet?
Frozenprince
Banned
It's not realistic, who's watching these kids for 5-6 hours a day when the parents aren't there? You need to pay for child care, which for 5-6 hours a day 5 days a week, that's well over $4K a month in the bay area.
You're not saving anything, you're not improving your quality of life. They're stuck in the exact same position they are now, just farther away.
You're not saving anything, you're not improving your quality of life. They're stuck in the exact same position they are now, just farther away.
Dude Abides
Banned
Do you think it's good parenting to live far enough away so your kids can have a separate bedroom but you never see them because you spend 4 hours a day commuting?
We don't know if they pay rent. The exact details of their finances weren't clarified in the article.
KissDaRing
Banned
Their parents can always help with child care. After all they live close to them don't they?
Their parents live where they are now. If they moved 2-3 hours away how would they watch them?
Being a contractor doesn't mean you aren't working full time
I feel awful for these people. Get your shit together San Francisco.
You assume they have time.
You assume they have time.
Depends on city + age as prices vary.
Think for that area, $300/person on lowest cost HMO plan without subsidies for age 20ish. Cost goes up the older you are, so I'd imagine $400/person for 30s, $500/person for 40/50s, and $600/person for early 60s.
Income is the biggest factor. Article claims couple makes over qualified amount.
It's their parents' detached garage. It's reasonable to assume they're not paying rent, or if they do, it's minimal.
ZackieChan
Member
If you were a landowner, would you want to lose wealth or go under water on your mortgage? Who would?
Actually in the article it says it is a detached garage next to his parents but it doesn't actually say it is the parents garage. I would assume it is the parent's but they are probably still paying them some rent to at least cover the utility costs.
Maybe but the city would probably block it.
KissDaRing
Banned
take the kids on the commute with them to work and drop them off to the grandparents if that's an option.
YuriLowell
Member
You're making tons of assumptions in everything you post - what makes you think their parents aren't working full time to afford their home?
A few hours less of parenting? Their parents would be gone from 6am to 8pm. That is zero hours of parenting.
Ive heard stories of engineers living in vans and in closets in San Francisco so I'm not to surprised to hear a cafeteria worker is suffering, maybe they should become cafeteria workers in another city because I dont see a solution here except for companies to move out of San Francisco.
Zoe
Member
It also claims they're not making enough for the employer insurance which you would expect to be cheaper than the state plans. Each spouse should be able to get their own plan--it's probably the cost of the children causing it to skyrocket for one of them.
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