First there was the Facebook social media site. Then came the Facebook based movie. Then came the Facebook phone, or should I say, there came and went the Facebook phone. How would you like to live in a Facebook apartment?
In Menlo Park, CA, the heart of Silicon Valley, Facebook is putting up a community condo. This condo will be mostly for Facebook employees; only 15 units will be open for non-employees. This community will be called Anton Melo. The community is expected to cost $120 million to build, have 394 units, exceed 630,000 sq. foot and be close to Facebook headquarters where they work. These first class facilities will include: an outdoor pool, cafe, convenient store, sports bar, pet spa, bike repair shop, gym with personal trainers, and an entertainment area. That’s all just on the property!
My reactions to this are mixed. On one hand, the San Franciso/Oakland/Silicon Valley area is one of the most expensive areas in America. So I can see how living in this community would ease that burden. You gotta admit, you can’t beat the commute to work. It does beat fighting traffic. If you don’t believe that, come in live in my city for a while. I guess it would build up community among the Facebook work community. These are best case scenarios. Let’s look at the worst. Look at how everything is in this facility. Yes it’s convenient, maybe a little too much. It’s so convenient people may not even want to leave. Or is that the plan all along? What if an employee quits, gets fired or laid off? If they have their own place, at least they have that. In this case, they’ll lose it all. And socially, well you can make great friendships in communities like this. Nonetheless, just the opposite can be true. I remember living on campus in college, where people who couldn’t stand each other had to see each other daily. That situation was like watching a powder keg that eventually exploded, and everyone around knew it was going to. Anton Melo has it’s good and bad points. If your job offered a community like Anton Melo, would you live there?