This thoughts are applied to the Silicon Valley
This idea comes from combining three thoughts: a research I had to do about Gentrification (SF and Bay Area) + My experience volunteering in East Palo Alto + Studying in a Community College
At this moment everyone has read enough about Gentrification, what it means, the causes, the effects, the *devils* and how is affecting our lives. They say its worst in “The City” but its spreads to all the Valley.
Dave McClure from 500 Startups had a great tweetstorm about it that ended like this:
You can read it all here: Also if you want to tweet now click here
We also know that we live in one of the most innovative places in the world. Surrounded by Google, Facebook, Apple, Intel,Uber, Airbnb which are creating innovation at a speed that has never happened before. As also wealth.
[If you like it so far, please hit that Recommend button! Oh yeah!]
But what happens when the effects of gentrification pushes people away from the Valley in benefit of more *intelligent/smart* people that do not actually understand the needs of the lower-income population. We are allocating the resources of the Valley into an elite group of people with certain characteristics that do not *understand completely* the real needs of the majority. It is true that technology is usually created for a few nerds and for the high class (car is the best example) and that it slowly moves down in price to become accessible to everyone. But that is not the situation when it comes to real estate. The constraints of land are not easily converted into bits. Even if Airbnb is doing a pretty good damn job.
Here there will come a question of morality: “Why are you entitled to live in Silicon Valley or San Francisco if you can't pay for it?” Fair question. I don't have a specific moral answer for it.
But I believe that to solve some of the problems our society faces we need to involved the people that suffer and struggle with these problems. Diversity is not only created by allowing people of different race or ethnicity but also by welcoming those that are not well off. Like Ernesto Sirolli mentions in his TED talk, “Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!”, the people that have being through the situation have more to teach you than the perfect solutions you proposed.
They are very intelligent/smart students from community colleges that don't get the mentoring and access to resources that would let them create their own start ups to help their communities. Even in some places inside Silicon Valley there are islands of people where creativity and entrepreneurship don’t reach them. Many of them (locals) go far away to study in universities that can give them this possibilities. They hardly come back.
There is also people that are today in a low-income situation because of the 2008 crisis, or others that have just dedicated their lives to their community instead of pursuing the money, that don't have access to the resources that can create real change innovation. Or even the resources to be able to stay in the Valley to help does who most need it.
We are doing a Gentrification of our Innovation by pushing away people with incredible knowledge in the day-a-day struggle of the low-income class. If we empowered them with the resources necessary to build their own solutions, sum with the knowledge of their own struggles and problems, they will come up with an amazing new sets of *disruptions*.
We need to help them build their own way out. Or maybe their own way in.
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Thanks! I’m @jdcarlu on twitter, and usually write here phari.co
