Tech-gentrification

How Start-up speculation mechanically leads to increased rents in Berlin and elsewhere.

Investors Are More Interested in Berlin’s Tech Scene Than Frankfurt’s Brexit Imports - Bloomberg - April 2018
''"The surging demand has caused the purchase price for office space in Berlin to almost triple to 5,200 euros ($6,400) a square meter in the last five years, cementing the city’s turnaround from a backwater of abandoned buildings to one of Europe’s most sought-after locations." ''

''"Buoyed by the influx of new workers, Berlin’s office vacancy rate fell to just 2 percent last year from 5 percent in 2013, Savills Plc estimates. That helped push up rents to an average of 19.20 euros per square meter from 12.30 euros during that period, according to the broker."

'' https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-05/berlin-tech-scene-beats-frankfurt-brexit-boon-for-office-buyers

How to get rich quick in Silicon Valley - Guardian - April 2018
''"When I met her, she was terrified that her landlord would evict her and sell the building so that it could be rented out at six times the price to white techie colonisers such as myself." ''

''"“I worked until 9pm because dinner is free if you work that late ... And they’ll pay for your cab home,” he went on. That became his routine, and he never questioned it."

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"More than a third of American workers now qualify as “freelancers” or “contingent workers” – that is, their livelihoods are contingent upon the whims of their managers. That’s because the choice to become entrepreneurs has been made for them. The destruction of social welfare, public education and organised labour has created what might be called the 50 Cent economy, a system structured to offer only two options: “Get rich or die trying.” George W Bush called it the “ownership society”."

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/apr/17/get-rich-quick-silicon-valley-startup-billionaire-techie