O Apple Park it has not yet been officially opened but, of course, it is already impacting the surroundings. When dealing with something so majestic, which occupies an area of ​​700,000 square meters and intends to house around 12,000 employees, it was not to be expected less. Highlighting the positive and negative points, the The New York Times analyzed what the “spaceship” helped or not that region.
After 2011, when Steve Jobs presented the proposal for the large circular glass building, house prices in Sunnyvale, Cupertino and a few other cities in the vicinity basically doubled, increasing by 15-20% per year. In addition, about 95 projects have started to be developed in this area in recent years, including apartments, small shops, restaurants, cafes, among others, the city manager, Deanna J. Santana, said she has never seen so much movement before.
The Birdland neighborhood in Sunnyvale, across the street from Apple ParkWe followed the construction from the beginning thanks to the people who go there to take pictures and also fly over the megalomaniac work with their dronesin order to get good images from above. In order for this to be done, amateur videographers ask local residents if they can stay in the silence of their homes to operate their drones and some seem not to care.
However, the biggest problems for the residents there are not caused by onlookers who stay around their homes or by the helicopters of television networks, but by the construction itself. Several people would have already complained about loud noises early in the morning, closing streets without warning, barriers and punctures that punctured tires, etc. Apple then tried to remedy by offering some alternatives like free washing for a woman who complained about having her car covered with construction dust.
Residents of the Birdland neighborhood in Sunnyvale, across the street from Apple ParkThe Homestead road, which separates Apple Park from Birdland, became a topic of debate. Apple employees wanted to build a wooded central construction site to calm traffic, with Apple covering the costs. But the residents objected, claiming that the jobsite would eliminate one of the lanes, further increasing traffic.
Ma had about 110 meetings with the community to get feedback while Apple Park was in the design phase. Apple's vice president for real estate, Dan Whisenhunt, said the company would continue to try to address community concerns and, if the problem was really serious, he would visit the site himself to see what was going on.
Art Maryon, a real estate agent, in the Birdland neighborhood he said the one-story farmhouse houses were being sold for about $ 1.8 millionIn Birdland, Apple employees are already taking advantage of the opportunity left by those who did not endure the problems and moved to a more peaceful place, leaving their homes vacant. Those who stayed there, however, are realizing that there will be no improvement in movement and everything will probably get worse, since soon it will be necessary to deal with about 12 thousand employees leaving and entering the "spaceship" daily. Apple will continue to try to understand residents' complaints, but Whisenhunt said it was not possible to satisfy everyone.
The work on the Apple Park will still continue in the second half of 2017, with plans to open in September or October.
via MacRumors
