Ever since Google announced about its 8M SF mega-campus at Diridon Station, there has been lots of controversy in the city of San Jose, CA.

They say the new offices will bring about 15,000 to 20,000 new job positions for the city’s residents. While that is excellent news for the tech sector of San Jose’s economy, it also means further pressure on an already unaffordable housing market.

Although this is good for the city’s economy, some people think this will make the housing crisis worse for San Jose. After all, it’s already very hard to afford living in San Jose, even for people who have lived here for generations. That’s why there’s a protest against Google’s new plan. People want to stay in the city that they know, love, and have raised families in for generations.

This week, protestors put up tents in front of the 8M SF property to protest their apprehensions about how this new project will help the housing crisis for locals. With homelessness still a major issue in the city, many are voicing their concerns about the city pricing out its people completely. That would only worsen the homelessness crisis and turn San Jose into a shell of its former glory.

What do the protesters want from Google?

Lots of the protestors held up signs that read, “Hey Google, affordable housing now.” As well as signs like, “Are your Google ad dollars leading to homelessness?”

When the company had its marketing meeting “Google Marketing Live” at the convention center, protestors were demanding that the company help in any way to better the housing crisis in San Jose.

Because of big companies expanding, such as Google, the housing prices are going up and there is not enough space to build newer ones for affordable housing. This will lead to a large number of homeless people in the city.

Google has not commented back or announced anything in regards to investing in the city’s affordable housing.