Planning to move to a new town? Why not design it yourself!

 Apparently Facebook is planning to move out of Palo Alto, but not very far. Menlo Park, their new desired location, will be seeing a revamped image as the social networking offices move in. To win the trust of the residents, or possibly just for a publicity stunt, Facebook plans to revamp the neighborhood and focus on the community feeling in the area. While they won't be making a whole new city like Disney tried to do (image) they will be revamping the feel of the neighborhood, hoping to make the residents feel comfortable with the new big addition to their home town. As a planner I think this could be a really exciting opportunity. Helping to redesign a neighborhood can be a test of patience and skill, working with residents, Facebook, and other businesses in the area, the planners must make sure no one is miserable with the new design. As a renter, I fear that the changes to the neighborhood will not be beneficial for many of the residents. In the article, Menlo Park is painted as a blue collar workers town, where people who work in lower wage jobs in San Francisco and Palo Alto can afford to live. In reality rents are already unbearably high in Menlo Park, but the influx of Facebook workers will only drive those rents higher, forcing residents who are already struggling to make rent out in search of new apartments.

Facebook isn't moving too far however, and the shift in workers' residences may not change dramatically with such a small move. I still think many workers will opt to live closer and move into Menlo Park, and as the superpower that Facebook has become grows more people will flood in. Hopefully the enhancements that Facebook makes to the community will make up for the shift in residents, and the plans will include increased housing numbers to accommodate the influx of new renters and buyers looking to move into the area.

I have linked an article about the plans to the picture of Epcot so you can learn more about it.

R