Industry makes and breaks the Bay Area: A crash course with Richard Walker

From the gold rush to the tech boom, this region has been shaped by successive waves of business growth and decline. Every generation, new investments, innovations, and industries have led the way in building the Bay Area, attracting immigrants, and impacting every aspect of life here. For better or worse, the legacy of these trends is the world we live in today. In this episode, urban geographer Richard Walker, author of “Pictures of a Gone City: Tech and the Dark Side of Prosperity in the San Francisco Bay Area,” discusses the pros and cons of these boom/bust cycles and explores the history of local development through the lens of Big Business. As the Bay Area’s economy faces an uncertain future under the threat of a global trade war and a looming “AI revolution,” this wide-ranging conversation gives context to our often bewildering present. Don’t forget to follow the East Bay Yesterday Substack for updates on events, boat tours, exhibits, and other local history news: For photos and links related to this episode, visit: Donate to keep this show alive:

You can listen to Industry makes and breaks the Bay Area: A crash course with Richard Walker online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Industry makes and breaks the Bay Area: A crash course with Richard Walker is an episode from East Bay Yesterday by East Bay Yesterday.

This episode is 01:11:07 long.

This episode was published on Apr 24, 2025.

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