Silicon Valley has plenty of tech jobs, but it is short on any sort of housing that isn’t super-expensive. Many workers have found homes farther away and are taking long trips to their offices.
The San Jose Mercury News reports that 5.3 percent of solo drivers in the region endured megacommutes, defined as 90-minutes drives to work (one way). The share is greater than Los Angeles, a city infamous for traffic. In L.A., 4.6 percent of motorists go through megacommutes.
Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and San Francisco has added a combined 344,000 residents since 2007, but gained only 69,500 housing units.
Jon Haveman, chief economist with San Rafael-based Marin Economic Consulting, said there’s no end in sight to Silicon Valley’s housing and traffic woes. “As the traffic and housing problems worsen,” Haveman said, “the jobs that will be kept here will primarily be high-skill, high-end jobs, jobs only for people who can afford to live here.”
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