This morning, nearly a hundred San Jose residents demonstrated at Google’s Mountain View headquarters over the tech giant’s plans to build a new mega-campus in San Jose.
Google is negotiating with San Jose City Council to buy valuable public land near Diridon Station for its proposed 6-8 million square foot campus that will be home to up to 20,000 Google employees.
Silicon Valley Rising, a coalition of community, faith and labor organizations, has organized three community town hall events, engaging residents from across the city in a discussion about the Google expansion. However, invited Google representatives failed to attend any of them.
One of the key concerns that residents raised was that Google’s expansion could exacerbate growing displacement, gentrification, and economic, racial and gender inequality in a city where neighborhoods are already being uprooted by the tech sector’s continued growth.
To address these concerns, Silicon Valley Rising is calling on Google to fund a community-administered affordable housing fund; require 25% of residential units in the Google project be income-restricted for low-income tenants; ensure legal defense for San Jose tenants facing eviction; and support tenants’ rights policies.
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