Tables Turn On Techies, Workers Earning Six Figures Being Priced Out Of Silicon Valley
MOUNTAIN VIEW (KPIX 5) -- The tables have turned on some techies in Mountain View. Well-paid tech workers who pull in six-figure incomes are being forced to pack up and can't find a place to stay.
"This really truly is our home. And we love it here, we love the people here," said Brandon Jones, a Google software engineer.
By most standards, Jones and his family have it all. He's a software engineer at the Mountain View tech company, lives 10 minutes from work and makes six figures. The problem is, he has to move, and being a Google employee doesn't guarantee a place to stay in Mountain View.
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"It is a long-running joke at Google that none of the employees can afford to live nearby the office, because things are so astronomically high," Jones said.
And he's feeling that now. The new owners of the townhouse complex he lives in are kicking them out in a year to make renovations and re-list the property.
Jones already pays around $2,800 a month for his 3-bedroom home. He and neighbors fear rent could go into the $4,000 a month range once renovations are complete.
With that price tag, Jones said six figures doesn't look that impressive. "Anywhere else in the world, it would be great. Here in the Bay Area, it's barely enough to provide a home for your family," Jones said.
His neighbor John Scarboro, a NASA engineer, said he'll likely have to move out of Mountain View to find housing he can afford. Scarboro sits on the city's Environmental Planning Commission, but not for long if he can't find another place in town.
"I love Mountain View, and I'd hate to leave. But I guess I have to realize that is a possibility. There's nothing that says we have to be here or it has to be affordable," Scarboro told KPIX 5.
The company that owns the properties, Prometheus Real Estate Group, is giving some neighbors more time than others to find a place, based on how long they've lived here. Jones has a year to find a new place.
