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In part one of this What This Town Needs opinion piece I opined that Los Banos Ca. critically NEEDS high tech industry and I went over why I do not think that we should fear the introduction of high tech industry here. I also explained a few things that could be done to retain the small town atmosphere. In part 2, I will give my opinions as to how Los Banos can benefit from Silicon Valley settling in among us.

Part 2 - BRING IT ON!

Now having gone over my personal opinions on what we can choose not to lose if high tech comes in, please bear with me a little longer and let me share with you my opinions on what Los Banos can GAIN via courting the high tech industry to come to our town. The reasons to bring High Tech to Los Banos California are so numerous that to write them all down would be prohibitive insofar as space in this What This Town Needs article. However the points below will make a good place to begin discussion.

Again, this is by no means a comprehensive examination of all the ways having high tech come to Los Banos would be positive. In fact my list is woefully inadequate and not at all comprehensive, but just for a minute do consider some of the benefits:

Income For The City
Okay we are gonna start off dry here. (Keep reading it will get more interesting a couple of paragraphs down - I promise) One of the tangible benefits of bringing high tech to Los Banos is the obvious influx of money to the general fund for city projects and maintenance. Certainly funding for the schools in Los Banos could use some income as well. High Tech Industry would provide Los Banos with an ongoing revenue stream from taxes and would also provide a certain amount of income from fees, permits, licenses, and all of the other income sources that cities are prone to saddle business with. If we could attract LARGE high tech firms the income would be quite substantial.

Employment
Another obvious entry on positive side of the ledger is that Los Banos will gain many more jobs if we can bring in some large high tech firms. The same is true if we can start a 'research park' (**) where a lot of incubating to mid size tech firms could congregate here in Los Banos. With our unemployment being reported in various places between 5 and 14 percent we NEED more businesses in town.

High tech employment positions are an obvious given, but let us not forget that every high-tech firm also has the need for support staff that need not have doctorate degrees. Not only that but construction and maintenance as well as other local employment opportunities in businesses not directly related to high tech would also increase. Gardeners, pressure washing firms, janitorial contractors and a myriad of others would also be needed. Many of these are unskilled or semiskilled workers who could be taken directly out of the rolls of the unemployed here in town.

Los Banos Benefits From The Unstoppable
High Tech IS going to come to Merced County and probably to the west side. The question is WHERE will it be built and who will benefit from its presence. It seems an obvious fact that if Los Banos does not court the high tech firms into our town then another town will. Gustine, Patterson, Santa Nella, and the unincorporated areas are all possibilities. Los Banos has the very obvious benefit of being almost at the mouth of the highway 152 / Pacheco Pass commute corridor. We also already have a city political structure, decent infrastructure, and businesses in town that are already willing and able to help support the high tech firms and their employees. If we make Los Banos an inviting place for businesses then they will naturally start looking for possibilities here in town. If we do not make Los Banos inviting to them then there are other only slightly less appealing but certainly open opportunities available to the high tech decision makers only a few miles down the road.

Quality Of Life For Presently Commuting Residents
One of the biggest complaints of some of the residents of this town is that sometimes onerous commute that many take over the hill each day to go to their high tech jobs in Silicon Valley. The mere fact that many spend as much as 4 hours a day on the road (and in some cases even more than that) shows a real commitment to their families and the want to own their own homes. Sadly this comes at the expense of even less time with their children, a disconnect from the community, and an increase in residential burglaries because so many people are gone all day long.

Better For Families
My name is NOT Doctor Laura, but it seems obvious that having parents here in town where their kids are going to school would allow them far more quality time at home. This would be good for the children and their parents. Instead of arriving home just in tome to eat and go to bed, and leave the next day before the kids awake, it would be very positive for parents to spend time mentoring their kids instead of just providing for them. It is way beyond the scope of this article to go into the psycho-social theory, but common sense says that the more time parents spend with kids, the better citizens the children will eventually become. Having high tech in town will make for a better future when the current crop of kids become our neighbors, politicians, and business leaders.

Better For The Environment And Better for The Economy
As long as I am talking about the commuters that schlep over the hill every day let me bring up another positive attribute of keeping them in town where they belong: gasoline. Supposing that each commuter has a really good car that can make the round trip Silicon Valley commute on only 5 gallons of gasoline per day. Multiplied out that is 1300 gallons of gas per year. It is beyond the scope of this article to get down to a nitty gritty discussion of pollutants per gallon burned but I guarantee you that keeping our high tech friends here in town would put a lot less pollution into the air. Not only that but with gas at almost $3.50 per gallon as of this writing a typical commuter could save something on the order of 4,500 dollars per year.

Did I mention that the saved gas money could be better spent in town thus even further helping our local economy? With gas prices in Los Banos almost always way above what they are over the hill the commuters that I know tend to fill up In San Jose. The sales loss to the local stations would not be critical because commuters will buy where its known to be cheaper anyhow.

So the environment and peoples pocket books would both benefit from introducing vibrant high tech business here in Los Banos.

More Informed, Caring and Involved Populace
Keeping the high-tech workforce working in town instead of commuting also would allow present commuters to keep in touch with 'what's happening' in town a lot better. Water cooler talk and lunches at the local eateries would involve discussion of local matters and not of things germane to San Jose or Palo Alto. This continuity of community and work can not help but to make for citizens with more of a personal investment and care for our town.

Better Crime Prevention
I would think that keeping more people off of the hill would push residential burglaries down a bit. Less time on the road means more time at home. When one adds an additional 4 to 6 hours of occupancy to a dwelling that is 4 to 6 hours that would be far less appealing to the criminal element. This would also benefit neighbors who are still stuck going over the hill as their homes would be watched a little better by people on their block who work locally. Criminals also would never be able to be sure when someone was coming home for lunch or making a quick trip back home to get a forgotten briefcase or identity badge.

Fuels POSITIVE Growth
The introduction of high tech growth would in my opinion be a POSITIVE growth. While I love the idea of semiskilled businesses like Lowes and Applebees opening up here, the truth of the matter is that these are support businesses. That is to say that they support homeowners and population already in place. High Tech is a creative business that is that it is by its very nature its own destination - creating something new and BEING supported by other businesses. With a little luck it might also grow! Also with affluent businesses comes affluent business taxes and affluent people paying their taxes as well.

It is my contention that property values will go up when Silicon Valley spreads to the San Joaquin Valley. Lets have that happen here in Los Banos rather than in a rival town or unincorporated area a few miles away.

So having made my case for courting high tech to our community. I certainly do not expect everyone to agree with this, and I too fear losing the small town atmosphere that I dearly love about Los Banos. However what I fear even more is Los Banos being usurped by other towns because of myopic or small minded ideas which could destroy this town in the long term.

I truly believe that we can keep a small town atmosphere while expanding and growing. Keeping the 'quaint' festivals and the small neighborhoods going as well as continuing to build small community parks with every new development does a lot to help this. Keeping high density housing to a minimum will also keep the vibrancy of this town high. More important however is the leadership of the city. If people feel like the government is supportive of them and accessible to them it is my belief that this will go a long way toward keeping the continuity of the community and therefore insure a small town atmosphere even as we grow to 50 or even 100 thousand in the years to come.

There is to my mind no long term sustainable reason as to why we should turn any high tech opportunity down. Our town simply can NOT live only off of farming and supporting agriculture any longer. We are too far from Silicon Valley to try to be a bedroom community for them especially when other nearby areas are willing to welcome the high-tech industry with open arms.

The benefits to Los Banos of courting high tech include income for the city, employment for the people, a better environment, and even a much better quality of life for the residents of Los Banos. Lets make it happen.

High Tech in Los Banos? BRING IT ON!

What is your opinion on bringing more High Tech Businesses to Los Banos? Share your opinions with the Los Banos Community on the Los Banos Forums Bulletin Board!

** Side Note: The research park idea mentioned above might have some real merit because housing prices and the cost of living here is somewhat lower than the bay area making this an ideal place to start a new business venture. We are close enough to Silicon Valley that meetings could be accomplished but the price of land, office space, and homes for employees is far superior here than in the Bay Area..