I think most people on this thread are in agreement. It's not the tech people who are "to blame", it's the companies and politicians for not developing a sustainable growth strategy that includes housing for all the jobs that support those tech workers.
Suddenly bringing in 25k high paid workers without a concrete plan on how to support that growth (including not giving gigantic tax breaks which would impact the necessary schools/police/transportation/etc of the area) is the root cause of the housing and traffic issues in Silicon Valley. I think local politicians are becoming a bit wiser to that kind of thing after seeing how gentrification is causing issues in other cities. NYC local politicians are probably the most aware, given NYC's history.
There's nothing "sudden", however. These housing problems in major metro areas have been going on for a long time, and there hasn't been any action at all to rectify it. No one's building good, affordable housing at a proper density anywhere, as far as I can tell.
Suddenly bringing in 25k high paid workers without a concrete plan on how to support that growth (including not giving gigantic tax breaks which would impact the necessary schools/police/transportation/etc of the area) is the root cause of the housing and traffic issues in Silicon Valley. I think local politicians are becoming a bit wiser to that kind of thing after seeing how gentrification is causing issues in other cities. NYC local politicians are probably the most aware, given NYC's history.