Every week brings news of yet another Bay Area company that plans to move its headquarters out of the region — essentially saying enough is enough.
Enough with drug-users shooting up across from Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. Enough with walking by someone defecating in the street in the city’s Financial District, enough with avoiding confrontations with the homeless who appear mentally ill.
Those quality of life issues are on top of the escalating housing costs, growing traffic congestion and higher taxes that are likely to only get worse as President Trump’s tax overhaul means many of the Bay Area’s most successful residents will be paying more to the IRS.
The list of companies expanding elsewhere, or actually moving their Bay Area headquarters out of state, reads like a growing casualty count as the region’s business and civic leaders grapple with these quality-of-life issues. Depomed, Bare Escentuals, Jamba Juice, Krave Jerky and Bechtel are all relocating their headquarters while Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW), Lyft, New Relic (NYSE: NEWR) and Slack, just to name a few, are expanding beyond the Bay.
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