Technology's Impact On San Francisco

Technology is constantly changing and becoming a staple of today’s economy. Facebook, Twitter, Google, and others have become some of the wealthiest and most influential companies in the world and due to this growth, are taking up residence in or near several cities. However, even though these companies provide a great many tech jobs and are helping to boost local economies, they can have negative side effects. For example, one of these negative side effects that is having a profound impact on San Francisco is the unintended gentrification and urban renewal within its city limits. Big tech companies have placed much of their business in Silicon Valley not far from the city, and due to this many of its employees have moved into San Francisco.

Protests such as these are due to the displacement of lower income individuals from their homes after their rent was raised due to the increasing property values. In fact, a UC-Berkeley study and map shows that evictions and rent increases often directly coincide with areas that the Google buses stop. Moreover, the median rent in San Francisco has increased to over 3000 dollars a month, 10 percent more than the previous year and three times the national average. Ironically, San Francisco boasts the nation’s largest minimum age at over 10 dollars an hour; though even this is not enough to make an impact on the increasing cost of living in the area due to the tech boom. Property inside the city has been bought and remodeled to suit the liking and taste of the tech employees that are now seeking to call the city home. Though none would say that the tech companies and the employees have meant to cause such issues, in fact they’ve helped the local economy immensely, but the sudden increase in tech jobs has inadvertently had several negative

Conservatives see capitalism as the system that has the best solution for the most people, and that even though new companies such as the tech companies have displaced lower income individuals, it can then create other jobs for these people in the service industry. Conservatives also focus on personal responsibility and would look to these individuals to find new jobs within the city or look elsewhere. The tech company’s success would be an example of the success of capitalism from the conservative perspective. To a conservative, this would be an issue that the free market would eventually correct and that people must persevere and adapt to the new financial climate of the