The Rise of the Silicon Valley Region
This PBS video excerpt shows the beginnings of the Silicon Valley through the lens of the Fairchild Semiconductor company—one of the initial high-tech companies in the region.
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In Context
The Silicon Valley, an area known for its high levels of technological innovation, has exploded in recent decades—population, economy, and development-wise. San Francisco sits within this region, alongside key cities like San Jose, Palo Alto, and Oakland. However, unlike some of these other places, San Francisco has not produced high job creation and retention rates within the last couple decades [8]. This has produced an extreme imbalance between job availability and housing demand in the city.
Today, some believe the economic environment resulting from high-tech jobs within the region is increasingly encouraging homogeneity in a city once known for its rich diversity. At the heart of current discussions about Bay Area regionalism is a desire to keep the city of San Francisco relevant, livable, workable, and affordable for its diverse residents—not just an iconic place outsiders want to visit. |
Employment, Transit, & Housing Impact
The regional economy has led to a decentralization of jobs, and therefore a decentralization of population. With the rise of the Silicon Valley in the late 90s and 2000s, other cities in the area have outpaced San Francisco in job creation. This decentralization of employment has significant implications for San Francisco.
As James Goodno explains in his article “Pride of Place: Civic life in San Francisco,” major job centers have located out in the suburbs and in surrounding counties, meaning “the transportation system and residential patterns [of San Francisco] that were established during the second half of the 20th century are no longer sufficient,” [8]. Many people who work for the tech companies in the suburbs continue to want to live in San Francisco for the urban city life it offers. Commuter shuttles like the “Google Bus” have only fueled this trend, allowing people to conveniently live far from their suburban workplace [2].
Unaffordable housing, a perpetual problem for San Francisco, has only worsened as these commuters compete for living space with existing San Francisco workers and with incoming Asian and Latino immigrants. While additional affordable housing units are constructed each year in San Francisco, they are expensive to build in mass quantities—even with heavy government subsidy [20]. The result is a city that increasingly cannot support large numbers of low to middle-income families. Urban researchers like Gabriel Metcalf see the solution coming through intensified regional integration. In his article “The San Francisco Exodus,” he calls for “ a ‘metropolitan’ strategy that ties the region together in better ways, and creates walkable, diverse communities in more locations,” [20]. He reasons that creating other competitive urban areas could take some of the burden off the San Francisco housing market, and once again make the city a more feasible living option.
As James Goodno explains in his article “Pride of Place: Civic life in San Francisco,” major job centers have located out in the suburbs and in surrounding counties, meaning “the transportation system and residential patterns [of San Francisco] that were established during the second half of the 20th century are no longer sufficient,” [8]. Many people who work for the tech companies in the suburbs continue to want to live in San Francisco for the urban city life it offers. Commuter shuttles like the “Google Bus” have only fueled this trend, allowing people to conveniently live far from their suburban workplace [2].
Unaffordable housing, a perpetual problem for San Francisco, has only worsened as these commuters compete for living space with existing San Francisco workers and with incoming Asian and Latino immigrants. While additional affordable housing units are constructed each year in San Francisco, they are expensive to build in mass quantities—even with heavy government subsidy [20]. The result is a city that increasingly cannot support large numbers of low to middle-income families. Urban researchers like Gabriel Metcalf see the solution coming through intensified regional integration. In his article “The San Francisco Exodus,” he calls for “ a ‘metropolitan’ strategy that ties the region together in better ways, and creates walkable, diverse communities in more locations,” [20]. He reasons that creating other competitive urban areas could take some of the burden off the San Francisco housing market, and once again make the city a more feasible living option.
Click through the slideshow to see trends related to the rise of the Silicon Valley; scroll over for more details.