How things have changed. When I was a kid, growing up in San Francisco, downtown S.F. was the hub of employment. It’s where the good paying, professional jobs were. Sure, there was a wee bit going on down in San Jose, or in the East Bay, but for the most part, it was all about San Francisco. Every morning was the same old grind: bumper to bumper cars all trying to get into the city at the same time. These folks would commute from the Peninsula into S.F. We now see the complete opposite. There are excellent, high paying jobs down in the Peninsula and Silicon Valley. The young professionals that work for Genentech, Google, Facebook, Apple, and the like enjoy an active, fun, diverse lifestyle. For this reason, many choose to live in S.F. In a constant effort to create the most drama-free workplace environment possible, many of the big-dog employers of the South Bay have created their own shuttle systems to ferry their most important asset, their employees, to work.
The shuttles are a true win/win/win. The employers are rewarded with maximum employee efficiency. As the buses are Wi-Fi equipped, the employees often work on their way to and fro their work campuses. The employees arrive more refreshed than they would be had they driven, and they often stay later at work than they might if they needed to rely on someone else for transportation (a car pool buddy, spouse, etc.). The employees benefit by having a choice. Some can choose not to own a car at all. I’ve seen this phenomena occurring with increased frequency over the past several years. Employees who work for these companies, and wisely choose to purchase a home somewhere near the shuttle bus routes, gain the luxury of deciding if they want to bother with the expense of an automobile. It’s not uncommon for such buyers to ask what a parking space rents for in the building they are interested in. They are typically asking this, not because they want a second space, but because they plan on leasing THEIR space out–putting an additional $250 to $300 per month in their pocket. Not bad, right? When the weekend rolls around, these same folks walk, bike, cab, bus, ZipCar, Ubercab, or Lyft car their way about town. You see, there are just so many options today that simply did not exist in years past. Lastly, the third winner in the win/win/win scenario is the environment, and the public at large. With all these cars off the road, Mother Earth, and Joe and Jane commuter all benefit.
This trend has made buildings that are situated near the shuttle stops more popular with both owners and those who rent. Who knew being near a bus stop would ever be such an exciting “selling point”. Take a look at the attached map. Good stuff.
View Rob La Eace, Realtor in a larger map
