Marc Andreessen compares California to Rome circa 250 A.D.

In a 34-tweet thread on Tuesday Andreessen, who co-founded the enterprise capital agency Andreessen Horowitz, mentioned that he and his household thought-about leaving after a “surreal 2020.” They  purchased actual property in Nevada and virtually purchased in Manhattan, he mentioned. However they in the end determined to remain, and now “rationalize” the choice by evaluating it to dwelling it in Rome earlier than the autumn. 

“Like Rome in perhaps 250 A.D., we dwell amidst an infinite flowering of tradition and creativity, however the roads have gotten unsafe and no person is kind of positive why,” he wrote.

Andreessen has been vital concerning the Silicon Valley space and its governance prior to now, calling out San Francisco’s allergy to developing new housing in his 2020 essay, “It’s Time to Construct.” Even because the area’s economic system has surged, Andreessen and different tech trade leaders have lamented the social issues persisting within the Bay Space, together with a housing affordability disaster. 

Along with his Nevada dwelling buy, the billionaire additionally purchased a $177 million mansion in Malibu final yr that was the costliest dwelling sale in California historical past, and likewise has a home within the rich Silicon Valley enclave Atherton. Regardless of his earlier public feedback about the necessity to construct reasonably priced housing in California, Andreessen and his spouse vigorously opposed plans for denser building in Atherton. The proposal was expunged from the housing plan in August.  

Andreessen’s remark about remaining in California comes as many longtime Silicon Valley boosters are questioning the worth of the area. The shift to work-from-home and hybrid places of work has been seized on by high-profile traders and technologists, proclaiming greener alternatives in locations like Miami and Austin, Texas.

A consultant for Andreessen Horowitz mentioned earlier this yr that it moved operations to “the cloud,” and can open new places of work in New York, Miami and Los Angeles to complement its current digs in Menlo Park and in San Francisco.