Facebook to Build Housing in Silicon Valley for First Time
VOA News
Last Updated:July 07, 2017 10:15 PM Reuters (source)
Facebook to Build Housing in Silicon Valley for First Time
Facebook將首次於矽谷蓋房
Last Updated: July 07, 2017 10:15 PM
VOA News
The shortage of housing in California's Silicon Valley has gotten so severe that Facebook Inc. on Friday proposed taking homebuilding into its own hands for the first time with a plan to construct 1,500 units near its headquarters.
The growth of Facebook, Alphabet Inc.'s Google and other tech companies has strained neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay area that were not prepared for an influx of tens of thousands of workers during the past decade. Home prices and commute times have risen.
Tech companies have responded with measures such as internet-equipped buses for employees with long commutes.
Facebook has offered at least ,000 in incentives to workers who move closer to its offices.
Those steps, though, have not reduced complaints that tech companies are making communities unaffordable, and they have mostly failed to address the area's housing shortage.
"The problem with Silicon Valley is you don't have enough supply to keep up with the demand," said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at real estate research firm CoreLogic.
With Facebook's construction plan, the company said it wanted to invest in Menlo Park, the city some 45 miles (72 km) south of San Francisco where it moved in 2011.
The company said it wants to build a "village" that will also have 1.75 million square feet of office space and 125,000 square feet of retail space.
"Part of our vision is to create a neighborhood center that provides long-needed community services," John Tenanes, Facebook's vice president for global facilities, said in a statement.
The 1,500 Facebook housing units would be open to anyone, not just employees, and 15 percent of them would be offered at below market rates, the company said.
Facebook said it expects the review process to take two years.
Alphabet has taken a smaller step, buying 300 modular apartment units for short-term employee housing, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.
Menlo Park Mayor Kirsten Keith said in an interview that there were concerns about whether the Facebook plan would increase traffic, a subject the city's planning department would study.
She said, though, that Facebook's plan fits with the city's own long-term plan for development, and that the city was excited about the additional housing.
Facebook's Tenanes said the density of the proposed development could also entice spending on transit projects.
"The region's failure to continue to invest in our transportation infrastructure alongside growth has led to congestion and delay," he said.
加州(California)矽谷(Silicon Valley)的住房短缺(shortage)問題日趨嚴重，Facebook公司於週五（編按：新聞時間為2017年7月7日）首次為此問題提出了親自(take . . . into one's own hands)建蓋房屋的計畫，預計在其公司總部(headquarters)附近興建1,500戶的房子。
Facebook公司、Alphabet公司旗下的Google，以及位於此區的其他科技公司的成長已對舊金山灣(San Francisco Bay)一區的房市造成壓力(strain)。此區未能因應過去十年間所湧入(influx)的數萬名員工，使得房價上漲與通勤時間(commute time)增加。
幾間科技公司已有措施(measure)來對應(respond)，像是為需要長途通勤的員工提供配有網路的(internet-equipped)交通車。
Facebook也提供了至少1萬美元的獎勵(incentive)給搬到公司附近的員工。
然而，這些措施並未能夠減少不滿的聲音，而這些不滿源於科技公司的成長使得周遭社區的房價已超過一般人可負擔的價位，且這些措施大多無法解決(address)住房短缺的問題。
房地產(real estate)研究公司CoreLogic的副首席經濟學家山姆‧卡特爾(Sam Khater)表示：「矽谷的問題在於供應不足，跟不上需求(demand)。」
Facebook表示，將藉著這個建設計畫來投資門洛帕克市(Menlo Park)。Facebook公司於2011年時搬駐到這個位於舊金山南方約45英里（72公里）的城市。
Facebook同時表示希望建造一個「村鎮」，此村鎮將有175萬平方(square)英尺的辦公室空間和12.5萬平方英尺的零售(retail)空間。
其全球設施部門的副總裁約翰‧特南斯(John Tenanes)在一份聲明中說：「我們願景(vision)的一部分是要建立一個鄰里中心以提供（居民）長期需要的(long-needed)社區服務。」
該公司表示，1,500戶的房屋將不限於員工，會對所有人開放，且其中15%的戶數將以低於市場的價格(rate)供應。
Facebook表示，審查(review)過程預計(expect . . . to)需兩年時間。
據《華爾街日報》(Wall Street Journal)上個月的報導，Google母公司Alphabet已踏出了一小步，購買了300戶的組合式(modular)公寓，作為員工短期住宿使用。
門洛帕克市市長克絲汀‧基斯(Kirsten Keith)接受訪問時表示，有人對於Facebook的計畫可能會增加當地的交通量感到擔心，針對此議題，該市的城市規劃部門將會再行研究。
她說，儘管有此疑慮，Facebook的計畫符合(fit with)門洛帕克市的長遠發展規畫，當地亦對新增的(additional)住房樂觀其成。
Facebook的特南斯副總裁表示，此建設提案所帶來的人口密度(density)亦可望誘發(entice)更多資金挹注於交通計畫(transit project)上。
他說道：「這個區域(region)過去未能跟隨著發展腳步持續地投資交通基礎建設(infrastructure)，因而導致了現在的交通堵塞(congestion)和延誤的狀況。」
Language Notes
shortage (n) 短缺；缺乏
headquarters (n) 總部
* 本字恆用「複數形」，即字尾一定有 "s"
strain (v)（使）承受壓力；拉緊
* 本字亦可作名詞，意即「壓力；拉力」
influx [`ɪnflʌks](n) 湧進；匯集
measure (n) 方法，措施
* 本字作「方法，措施」時常使用複數形 "measures"，本字亦可作動詞，常指「測量；計量」
incentive [ɪn`sɛntɪv] (n) 激勵；刺激；鼓勵
address [ə`drɛs] (v) 對付、處理（問題）
* 注意本字在新聞中為動詞，重音在第二音節，本字亦常作名詞「地址；住址」使用
review (n) 審查；仔細審核
modular [`mɑdʒəlɚ] (a) 模組化的；模組式的；組合式的
* module [`mɑdʒul] (n) 組件；模組
entice [ɪn`taɪs] (v) 誘使；引誘
infrastructure [`ɪnfrəˏstrʌkʧɚ] (n) 基礎建設；公共建設
congestion [kən`ʤɛsʧən] (n) 擁擠；擁堵
* 本字有一常見片語 "traffic congestion"「交通堵塞」
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編譯：簡嘉呈
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