The Two Silicon Valleys: One of Haves, One of Have-Nots

[Commentary] Silicon Valley is booming. Job growth is so strong that the recession is a distant memory. Average incomes are up, and the levitation of technology stocks and a pipeline of initial public offerings promise more wealth to come. “The economy is sizzling, any way you slice it, and about to get hotter,” said Russell Hancock, the chief executive officer of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a policy organization focused on regional issues. And yet divisions within the region are growing.

Fewer than half of first-time home buyers can afford to purchase a median-priced home, and rents are increasing faster than incomes, especially for the middle class. While whites and Asians are making more money, blacks and Latinos are falling further behind. Men with a college degree or higher make 40 to 73 percent more than women with the same levels of education. One-third of children in third grade can’t read at their proficiency level. Native-born Americans find the region increasingly inhospitable and steadily leave, even as immigrants find it irresistible and keep arriving. “We’ve become two valleys: a valley of haves and a valley of have-nots,” Hancock said. Sadly, the report’s findings are largely consistent over time. Every year, the index shows vast gaps between the rich and poor, the educated and non-educated, the native-born and immigrants. Every year, Silicon Valley’s leaders bemoan the lack of public infrastructure, the shortage of housing and the failure of the region’s leaders to work together for the greater good. Marc Benioff, the co-founder and chief executive of Salesforce.com, said that tech companies have a responsibility to give back more to the communities in which they operate to solve pervasive problems like homelessness and transit.