Take everything you know about the design and planning of Silicon Valley's corporate offices—but replace tech with pancakes.
The Onion's latest satirical effort implements a simple concept: What if Bisquick pursued the same kind of Made-for-the-Silicon-Valley cache as companies like Facebook and Google?
So this fake article imagines the grand opening a "sleek, modern work environment…constructed to foster creativity and innovation":
"The 650,000-square-foot Gehry Partners–designed complex, built to accommodate the baking-mix maker’s growing staff and expansive research division, reportedly includes a soaring seven-story glass atrium, dozens of diversely themed and luxuriously appointed meeting rooms, a state-of-the-art batter lab, and a landscaped 8.5-acre rooftop green space and recreation area."
The article includes a lot more of the outlandish corporate benefits that we have come to expect from the Silicon Valley business environment. And then there's the inevitable public backlash as well:
"'Bisquick is just another one of these Silicon Valley behemoths that moves in and totally changes the community—and not for the better,' said local resident Peter Watson, who noted that the land used for Bisquick’s indoor rock climbing wall used to be open park space that the city sold to help attract the company. 'When I moved here in the ’80s, it was all students and families; now, my whole street is nothing but Bisquick millionaires in their electric cars and luxury penthouses.'"
FULL STORY: Bisquick Unveils Sprawling State-Of-The-Art Silicon Valley Campus

San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.

HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.

Has President Trump Met His Match?
Doug Ford, the no-nonsense premier of Canada's most populous province, Ontario, is taking on Trump where it hurts — making American energy more expensive.

California Bill Aims to Boost TOD
A bill proposed by Sen. Scott Wiener would exempt transit agencies from zoning rules near ‘high-quality’ transit stops and allow denser transit-oriented development.

Report: One-Fifth of Seattle Households Are Car-Free
According to one local writer, the city’s low rate of car ownership should encourage officials to support public transit and reduce parking minimums.

California Lawmakers Move to Protect Waterways
Anticipating that the Trump EPA will reinstate a 2017 policy that excluded seasonal wetlands and waterways from environmental protections.
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