SAN JOSE — Google's expansion in Silicon Valley is a tale of two cities —Mountain View and San Jose.
Near the arena for the San Jose Sharks, the search giant wants to build a massive campus called the Google Transit Village for 20,000 employees. Besides offices, there will be shops, restaurants and open spaces.
But the proximity to the historic Diridon Station is the real draw to build in this part of the city.
"It really makes sense for a company like Google," said Cliff Chambers, who's with the Mountain View Coaltion for Sustainable Planning. "It would provide a lot of opportunity for their employees to commute by train. It makes all the sense in the world."
The city has approved the sale of over $100-million dollars in land for the project, but not everyone in San Jose is on board.
Last year, for the first time ever a Google bus was blocked in San Jose by protesters wearing hazmat suits. Their message was that the tech giant will be toxic for the city.
"Neither the city nor Google has been transparent from the beginning," said Liz Gonzalez, who's with Silicon Valley De-Bug, a community organizing group.
The proposed project already shows signs that long-time residents will be displaced, she said.
"Some family members who live in apartments very near here, they even received a call from their property manager saying that in three years their rents were going to increase dramatically," said Gonzalez. "That's unheard of. Who gives you a three-year warning that your rent is going to increase?"
As in Mountain View, Google has pledged to build more housing in San Jose with 25 percent designated as affordable. The company even recently turned down an exemption from the city's affordable housing fees.
"I don't think there are many examples on this planet where we've seen companies step up in this significant a way to the challenges of equity when we see an expansion of tech growth," said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.
The Google Transit Village is still at least a decade away.
