Google and Dwell have teamed up to launch "Design Your Dwelling," a contest that challengers would-be architects (you know, like Brad Pitt) to render their ideal domiciles using Google SketchUp. From Dwell's blog: "Each entry must take into account climate, public access, and size constraints, among other issues ... Designs will be judged on basic principles such as sustainability, cost-efficiency, and interior and exterior design. The grand prize winner will be flown to San Francisco for an awards lunch at the Dwell headquarters, an in-person tour of the design site, and an AIA / Dwell architecture home tour. In addition, a physical 3D model of his/her home will be created and displayed at Dwell, and then gifted to the winner. Airfare and accommodations will be provided by Dwell and Google SketchUp." [Dwell Blog]
Google's shuttle sweeps through San Francisco every morning, collecting many of the 1,200 Bay Area employees and delivering them to the company's Mountain View mothership— and increasing the value of local real estate while en route, according some agents' latest theory. Google-fueled "micro markets" are popping up around the Valencia Corridor, Dolores Heights and Noe Valley, fueled by young professionals wealthy enough to buy, but who instead choose to stay in San Francisco's obscene rental market. Agents are seeing more and more clients list proximity to the shuttle as a primary criteria in their housing hunt (too environmentally conscious to drive, or too lazy to walk to the bus?) Googlers are changing the relationship between the suburbs and the city, some claim, as they abandon cars for a ride on the ultra-posh coach. Thought: Proximity to public transportation— especially in cities where the goddamned transpo actually functions— always increases real estate value (fun with logic!). Is the public/ private dichotomy that marked, or are we witnessing a little propaganda campaign launched by a few agents shilling for buyers?
· The Google Effect: How the company's shuttle line affects San Francisco real estate [SF Gate]
Always thinking big over at Google H.Q.— Mountain View's most ambitious real estate mogul (since Steve's still stalling) has announced its plans to rent over 40 acres of land from NASA for a base fee of $3.36 million per year— for at least 40, but up to 90 years. Three phases of construction, beginning in 2013 and wrapping up around 2022, will yield 1.2 million square feet of new space filled with untold amenities. NASA will control the entire project (including the design) which, to us, sounds like one big delusion of grandeur. [Market Watch]
Google is petitioning the city for an after-hours party at Golden Gate park on June 11th, and guess what— go ahead now, take a stab at it— the neighborhood is riled over the sort of "noise, litter and inebriation" that led the city to establish a 105-decibel cap on musical events in the park back in 2006. Additional objection: the proposed event will take place at 10 p.m. (waaaay past the nabes' bedtime); 1,400 people will gorge on an alcoholic picnic dinner before performing horribly stilted dance moves to the tune of U2 and Journey cover bands. Cover bands? Slackers. If given permission to land, Google will post a $1m insurance bond, and pay off the city with $20,860 in fees. [Examiner]
All we can say is that Google has a hell of a lot more faith in humanity than we do: Google Maps has gone Wiki, now permitting anyone in the U.S., New Zealand, and Australia to edit, add, and delete places on the map. Would-be anarchist geographers, stand down— Google has already installed a set of checks and balances into the new app add-on. Having taken a note or two from the Wikipedia wars, Google lists each location's original site beneath its address, followed by its editorial history. And here we dreamed of re-arranging San Francisco according to our own imaginary boundaries, thus rendering the MLS nabe maps totally inaccurate. (Insert diabolic laughter here.)
· It's Your World. Map it. [Google Lat Long Blog]
· Google Maps, Wiki-Style [Tech Crunch]
In a follow-up to last week's announcement of Google's arrival at former Gap H.Q. 345 Spear Street, SF New Developments predicts that the influx of presumably moneyed techies will have a direct impact on the Infinity's sales (approximately 10% remain unsold) and rentals. Any Googlers out there care to confirm or deny this hypothesis?
Mark your calendars, gold diggers: on March 3rd, hundreds of an eventual 1,200-strong team of Google employees will swarm the Hills Plaza at 345 Spear Street, former H.Q. to the Gap. The three floor, 197,000 foot space that's been given a $20 million green overhaul. Sustainable? Yes. Frivolous? You bet. A plastic tubular slide will zip forever-young workers from the third to the second floors, a bit of fun cribbed from the company's Zurich office— and a feat that's still giving Skyline Construction's engineers a fit or two as March looms large. Also on tap is a $4 million, 4,000 square foot gourmet cafe, free for all employees (whose menu, we assume, expands upon the traditional three-course tech meal of pizza, Mountain Dew, and no sleep.)
· Google marches into San Francisco [SF Business Times]
[Ed note: This just in— a reader just directed us to some interior shots; take the jump for the deets.]
Google is partnering with the city to provide phone numbers and voice mail service to homeless folks who want them, thus enabling users to, say, offer a callback number on a job application or retrieve test results. Said one formerly homeless individual at Wednesday's Homeless Connect event, where the plan was unveiled: "Having your family, friends and loved ones being able to say 'here I'm thinking about you, I love you, I want you to know you're mine, and I miss you,' can have a monumental change in one's behavior." Booty call! [msnbc]
Google needs somewhere to stash its visiting execs, no doubt; they've been scheming over a four-star hotel near the Mountain View campus since September. But they're playin' dirty, those Google boys are: Word is that the company won't guarantee would-be hotel workers the right to choose union representation without company intimidation. What else to do then, but host a Marxist soiree on The Man's front lawn? One hundred workers and local rabblerousers swarmed the Google campus yesterday, staging a protest— and picnic— to make their demands known. As for Google, we doubt yesterday's fete will move them to enter talks on the subject. Sorry, people. Maybe they'll pencil you in for next year.
· Hotel workers stage protest at Google Headquarters [South Bay Indymedia]
[Still from protest footage courtesy South Bay Indymedia]
Google is into searches, information, maps, adverts, trends, video, phones, gunning to own a bunch of the wireless spectrum, and it's even sorta in the transportation biz. Now the company is putting some of its vast resources into alternative energy. And here's what we like about this: Quote GOOG co-founder Mr. Page, they seek to "apply the same creativity and innovation to the challenge of generating renewable electricity at a globally significant scale." Google uses a lot of power; it's not too far afield from its business concerns to want a cheaper solution; credit the company for being unafraid to put that cash into moral concerns as well. [MarketWatch]
It's not enough for big tech companies to provide awesome perks like comped lunches, free childcare, stock options, and more; they lately have had some need to establish their own transportation infrastructure as well. Problem: their solutions—luxury commuter buses that cart workers to and from the city—are clogging up traffic in ways that range from annoying to dangerous. The police force has started being generous in citations, even as a higher-up attempts a macro-solution with the likes of Google, eBay, PayPal, and Yahoo. Interestingly, the city never granted permission for the shuttles to make such stops. While individual shuttle drivers have licenses that allow them to do so, we're betting the original intent was for stopping on a spot basis depending on varying jobs (events, special tours, etc). In effect, Silicon Valley companies paying shuttles to go the same route every single work day institutionalizes a second bus system that didn't need to take into account all the things that our transit commissions do when putting bus stops in place or addressing traffic and safety considerations. A Google spokesflack said: "We are taking over 1,200 cars off the road every day in the Bay Area. We’re trying to make it easier for people to live in The City and still work for Google.” Laudable, true—if just a tad bit myopic.
· Shuttles cause parking-control headache [Examiner]
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Google's shuttle sweeps through San Francisco every morning, collecting many of the 1,200 Bay Area employees and delivering them to the company's Mountain View mothership— and increasing the value of local real estate while en route, according some agents' latest theory. Google-fueled "micro markets" are popping up around the Valencia Corridor, Dolores Heights and Noe Valley, fueled by young professionals wealthy enough to buy, but who instead choose to stay in San Francisco's obscene rental market. Agents are seeing more and more clients list proximity to the shuttle as a primary criteria in their housing hunt (too environmentally conscious to drive, or too lazy to walk to the bus?) Googlers are changing the relationship between the suburbs and the city, some claim, as they abandon cars for a ride on the ultra-posh coach. Thought: Proximity to public transportation— especially in cities where the goddamned transpo actually functions— always increases real estate value (fun with logic!). Is the public/ private dichotomy that marked, or are we witnessing a little propaganda campaign launched by a few agents shilling for buyers? 
Mark your calendars, gold diggers: on March 3rd, hundreds of an eventual 1,200-strong team of Google employees will swarm the Hills Plaza at 345 Spear Street, former H.Q. to the Gap. The three floor, 197,000 foot space that's been given a $20 million green overhaul. Sustainable? Yes. Frivolous? You bet. A plastic tubular slide will zip forever-young workers from the third to the second floors, a bit of fun cribbed from the company's Zurich office— and a feat that's still giving Skyline Construction's engineers a fit or two as March looms large. Also on tap is a $4 million, 4,000 square foot gourmet cafe, free for all employees (whose menu, we assume, expands upon the traditional three-course tech meal of pizza, Mountain Dew, and no sleep.)
Google is 
Google needs somewhere to stash its visiting execs, no doubt; they've been scheming over a four-star hotel near the Mountain View campus since September. But they're playin' dirty, those Google boys are: Word is that the company won't guarantee would-be hotel workers the right to choose union representation without company intimidation. What else to do then, but host a Marxist soiree on The Man's front lawn? One hundred workers and local rabblerousers swarmed the Google campus yesterday, staging a protest— and picnic— to make their demands known. As for Google, we doubt yesterday's fete will move them to enter talks on the subject. Sorry, people. Maybe they'll pencil you in for next year.
Allow us to dispense with the business early in the day so that we can all uncork the Dom. For the most part,2007 sucked a big one on the 
It's not enough for big tech companies to provide awesome perks like comped lunches, free childcare, stock options, and more; they lately have had some need to establish their own transportation infrastructure as well. Problem: their solutions—luxury commuter buses that cart workers to and from the city—are clogging up traffic in ways that range from annoying to dangerous. The police force has started being generous in citations, even as a higher-up attempts a macro-solution with the likes of Google, eBay, PayPal, and Yahoo. Interestingly, the city never granted permission for the shuttles to make such stops. While individual shuttle drivers have licenses that allow them to do so, we're betting the original intent was for stopping on a spot basis depending on varying jobs (events, special tours, etc). In effect, Silicon Valley companies paying shuttles to go the same route every single work day institutionalizes a second bus system that didn't need to take into account all the things that our transit commissions do when putting bus stops in place or addressing traffic and safety considerations. A Google spokesflack said: "We are taking over 1,200 cars off the road every day in the Bay Area. We’re trying to make it easier for people to live in The City and still work for Google.” Laudable, true—if just a tad bit myopic.
