Chapter 705

The purchase of land to build the headquarters in the United States did not go well.

Watching Buchanan mark his final location on the map, Feng Yiping boasted, "This place is not bad,"

"Now we all know your views on home ownership," Buchanan said with a laugh.

Feng Yiping can only hehehe, his view on property purchase is very simple, if it is a coastal city, then the place you choose must be able to easily see the sea view.

This piece of land is located in the bay of East Palo Alto. In the future, the office can see the sea, which is very good!

"15 acres?" Feng Yiping pondered for a moment, sorry, how many square meters is this?

Mike, who helped him buy a house, knew it and immediately added, "About 60,000 square meters."

That is more than 90 acres, enough atmosphere!

"I don't understand. Britain and Commonwealth countries don't use the imperial system now. Why do they still keep the imperial system here?" Feng Yiping complained in order to ease his embarrassment.

This is also a strange thing about the United States. The United States is one of the only three countries in the world that retain the imperial system (the other two are Myanmar and Liberia). The metric and imperial systems coexist, and some of the American and British imperial systems are inconsistent.

As early as the Qin Dynasty, we had the same car and the same book, okay!

"Several presidents have invested a lot of manpower and material resources to promote the reform plan, and the final result is that the metric system coexists," Buchanan said, "The main problem is the habit of tens of millions of people, and this part of the people is very resistant to the implementation of the metric system.

"National Geographic" magazine has launched several publications comparing metric and imperial systems. Because of the resistance of many readers who are not used to metric systems, they have to still use a single imperial system. "

Seeing that Feng Yiping was still flipping through the data on the land, Mike chattered, "A few years ago, a satellite launched by NASA to detect the weather of Mars crashed. It is said that it was caused by using 'Newton' and 'Pound' at the same time. "

There is such a thing?

"I think it's mainly these people...," Feng Yiping said halfway, and finally stopped in time. If he said this, even the two Americans opposite him would be offended.

Well, Feng Yiping thought, the reason why so many people resisted may be mainly because Americans are not good at math.

If all of them were changed to the metric system, these guys who have been accustomed to using the imperial system since childhood will probably be blinded when they go out. Add oil, one liter, how many gallons is one liter? Then when someone asked him how many meters he was tall, he would not be able to answer. How many meters is a foot?

Immediately, Feng Yiping was in no mood to tease them secretly. He pointed to the long list in surprise and said, "Are these all items that need to be approved?"

"Yes, these certifications and licenses must be passed,"

Feng Yiping looked at it and said that the procedures in our country are cumbersome, and there seem to be more procedures here, dear!

There are so many items on this list, some of which he can understand, such as air discharge permits, national and state pollutant discharge permits, wetland protection and impact permits, and approval of federal water source cleaning action plans, which are probably similar to domestic environmental assessments.

But there are still many projects that he knows for the first time, such as the investigation of cultural resources in the early stage. Is this a magical thing? And a rainstorm pollution prevention and control plan? Is this preventing me from being polluted by others, or is it preventing me from polluting others?

"Although there are many projects and the requirements are strict, they are actually very easy to pass because of Fremont," said Buchanan, who knew what he was worried about.

This is also a characteristic of the United States. To deal with these matters, you don't have to run back and forth from one department to another. Lawyers can handle everything, which saves time and trouble, and also eliminates the possibility of bribery.

It is debatable whether it is saving money, because the fees for lawyers to represent these matters are not low.

"These are okay," Buchanan picked out another document, "This is the permit that East Palo Alto City needs us to pass. These items are probably the most labor-intensive,"

Feng Yiping took a look, "Why is there permission for wetland protection and impact?"

"Their city council has strict requirements on wetland protection, and hopes to invite local animal protection associations and environmental protection experts to participate,"

That is, local standards are higher than national standards!

There is also a need to evaluate the possible impact of NEXTDOOR's construction of its headquarters in East Palo Alto on local aspects.

"What does this mean?" Feng Yiping didn't understand again.

"After the headquarters is completed, it is expected that at least 5,000 people will work there, while East Palo Alto currently has less than 25,000 people. They are worried that the addition of so many outsiders will affect their normal life,"

Feng Yiping looked at Buchanan with some displeasure. What does this mean? I'm here to invest, okay? I'm here to bring you job opportunities, okay? Looking at it like this, it seems to be very unwelcome, troublesome, and contemptuous?

He finally understood why the California government went bankrupt when the tough guy Schwarzenegger became the governor. From this point of view, it didn't happen for nothing.

This project has already been budgeted, and it is estimated that it will cost at least 80 million US dollars. If it is in China, even if it is a first-tier city, the local government will definitely welcome it.

At this moment, Feng Yiping felt that domestic affairs were better.

Although there will be some bureaucrats in China, there will also be bureaucrats in the United States, but they may not be as excessive as their domestic counterparts.

However, they have another kind of resistance that has not yet arisen in the country, can it be said that they are civil servants?

"I finally understand why so many people have done so much work, but the imperial system is still largely maintained here," Feng Yiping shook his head.

This may be positive!

This actually shows that the United States respects civil rights, even if it is some seemingly unreasonable requirements, as long as there are many people who hold this view, the government and society will respect it.

Of course, there are also negative effects. For example, what Feng Yiping is facing now seems to be more troublesome than in the country. The local government not only did not follow suit, but was picky, and the local people were not overjoyed, but actively found fault.

He finally understood why the high-speed rail planned by the United States still remained on the drawing board over the past ten years, while the mileage of high-speed rail in our country has accounted for at least half of the world.

If we follow the American model, the results of our development in the next 30 years may not be realized in 100 years.

"How long will it take to process these permits?"

"Because many departments of government agencies at the city, state, and federal levels are involved, if everything goes well, it will take at least 6 months, and Fremont is expected to be 8 months,"

In 6 to 8 months, in China, more than half of such office buildings with the highest three or four floors may be completed.

"What's the estimated construction time?"

"Around 18 to 20 months,"

Feng Yiping is very heartbroken! It's okay to go through all kinds of formalities, that's done by lawyers. Although it takes a long time, there are few people and less money spent.

But the construction of the park requires a lot of workers, which takes 18 to 20 months, and the nobles among these workers have high wages, so the expenditure, tsk!

Feng Yiping once again sighed, it is still better in China!

But what can be done? People here are rich now, and even job opportunities are not rare.

He didn't bother to ask, "Then you should hurry up, and, Mike, I hope you can prepare a research center as soon as possible. The main task of this research center is to develop some technologies we need in the future."

He doesn't know much about getting rich in Silicon Valley, and some of them are difficult to do. However, he knows YouTube, which is a project with an astonishingly high input-output ratio, and he doesn't want to let it go.

In order to seize the opportunity, it is necessary to reserve some related technologies.

Mike originally wanted to shirk it, because the company is preparing the review section now, and he was afraid that he would not be able to spare time, but seeing Feng Yiping's displeased expression, "Okay, I will make a plan as soon as possible,"