Skip The Bus, Report Claims Google's Next Move Is Into SF Mission District
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- In what looks to become another skirmish in San Francisco's escalating gentrification war, Google is said to be making a major move into the city's Mission District and some are saying "there goes the neighborhood."
At the corner of Alabama and 16th Street in San Francisco's Mission District, tech is taking root.
According to the Financial Times newspaper, a 90-year-old building which was once home to decidedly old media -- a newspaper and printing company -- is going to become a Google satellite office with room for about 200 employees.
A source tells the Financial Times that Google leased the building for engineers who don't want to commute to Silicon Valley.
But whenever Google moves in, you can count on some ruffled feathers, especially in San Francisco, where the renovation of this building is seen by some as another step down an irreversible path.
One resident told KPIX 5, "Google, we feel, has no business moving into the Mission because it is an enormous disruption to the lives of people who've been here for decades." Another said, "It's all a bit exhausting. You just want to find a place to live and have a nice neighborhood -- which we do, although it's very intense."
But in talking to other neighbors we found it's not entirely hostile territory.
"What's the difference you know? It was the hippies now it's the hipsters. I think it's great. I love living in the future now," one man on a bike told us.
And a woman in the area said, "I really love the fact the Mission has a diverse population. [I] hope that doesn't change things. On the other hand, it's not condos being built, which was a fear of mine."
So far, Google isn't commenting on the project in the Mission but one can assume that if it goes well, there's more to come.
