Facebook has become the quintessential social media site for everyone from pre-teens to grandmas. Everyone who is anyone hangs there. The site’s enduring popularity, it leads to increase its staff and look for a new headquarters, and although it has been a city in mind for the next expansion, the city may not have room.
Facebook managers have been in talks with the city of Menlo Park, California, in San Francisco Bay Area, about to move its executive offices and headquarters of Palo Alto. That would mean an influx of nearly 6,000 employees in Menlo Park.While the increased population would greatly benefit local businesses and the economy as a whole to potential residents can afford to live in the wealthy city.
The average selling price for a home in Menlo Park is over $ 600,000 and rents range from just under $ 2,000 to over $ 4,000 a month. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines “affordable housing” as any dwelling that is 30 percent or less of a resident income. In other words, Facebook employees to earn at least $ 80,000 per year for rental housing in Menlo Park to be affordable. Although it is well within reach of a software engineer, administrative positions pay much less.
When it was first considered moving to Menlo Park conducted Facebook an EIA.Although companies generally do not include residential assessments in a report like this, it made Facebook. It was found that “only 17% of low-paid domestic workers can find affordable housing for those in the city.” In addition, the report noted that the city must build over 250 homes to meet state low-income housing requirements to 2025 and to move their headquarters to the city would create an immediate demand for over 3,000 homes.
This has caused concern among Facebook executives and other employees, who are worried that some of the lower-paid employees will be forced to commute long distances from more affordable areas. For some, the long commute outweigh the benefits of working at Facebook, and they can choose to get a job closer to home.
While Facebook has expressed its concern, it seems not shared by the Menlo Park City Council, which recently decided to disband his house department. It is unclear how the city intends to move forward, but its housing needs represents a potential opportunity for developers who can offer creative and effective solutions.At the same time, it could represent a significant barrier to the company that Facebook seeking a new home.
