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A comment on Rethinking office space. Parent comment

Re:Rethinking office space by scholia on Friday February 27, 2015 @05:36PM (#9121815)
> I guess Google could build apartments too but that's not ideal, I don't want to live at work.

In the industrial revolution, it wasn't uncommon for major industrialists to build "model villages" [1] to house workers. The best examples include Bournville (Cadbury's chocolate), Saltaire (wool) and Port Sunlight (Lever Bros soap etc).

They were attractive places to live, compared with Victorian slums. You got a healthier, happier workforce living within walking distance of their jobs. Sir Titus Salt's Saltaire is now a World Heritage Site.

There's no reason why Google couldn't do the same, at least for a proportion of its workers. It looks as those Facebook will....

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_village

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Re:Rethinking office space by kqr2 on Friday February 27, 2015 @05:54PM (#9121899)
Google has tried to build housing in Mountain View multiple times but their plans have been rejected:

http://www.mv-voice.com/print/story/2012/07/13/google-housin...

In general, it's much easier to build office space than housing. Cities like it because it generates revenue but they don't have to provide additional support services such as schools, police officers, etc.

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Re:Rethinking office space by skybrian on Friday February 27, 2015 @07:47PM (#9122284)
This changed with the last election. Three pro-housing candidates were elected to the Mountain View city council.
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