Protestors in San Francisco blocked Google's busses again this week, while also making it personal - again. Rallying against evictions and the gentrification of historically Latino and Black neighborhoods, some of the same protestors also singled out another Google employee at his home.
The technology industry, and Google in particular, has been the target of community rage in the San Francisco area resulting from the economic and culture clash between well-moneyed tech workers and average, long-term residents. Google is seeking to lessen the strain - and perhaps the hard feelings - by recently donating millions to provide low-income youth in the area free transportation.
The presence of Google (and other tech giants) in the San Francisco Bay Area has already sparked local protests against corporate bussing, gentrification, and rising housing prices - as well as a paranoid anti-tech underground - but Google's latest plans may turn up the heat even more. Google is planning on moving some of its operations into the Latino and immigrant-heavy Mission District.
Anthony Levandowski is a Google employee who has helped develop Google's futuristic self-driving cars. He lives in the Bay Area, where he normally commutes by self-driving car about 43 miles to the Googleplex, Google's headquarters in Mountain View. Earlier this week though, Levandowski couldn't get to work on time, after protesters blocked his driveway for 45 minutes.
