3 ms·

> city's are only important due to it's residents That's the problem, how do you spark the network effect? People don't setup in SF for ironic atari t-shirts,

> city's are only important due to it's residents That's the problem, how do you spark the network effect? People don't setup in SF for ironic atari t-shirts, they're there for the talent pool and infrastructure (i.e. the stuff amazon will bring)

JBlue42 9y ago
People have been talking lately about how Pittsburgh has turned things around. The Raleigh-Durham area is always talked about as kind of an unappreciated, affordable place for tech people to work. Both downtowns have improved over the past decade or two (like in many small cities), the three big universities have plenty of students, RTP is around, the only thing really against it is the suburban sprawl. I hear they are getting light rail but I've heard people talking about rail in NC since I was a child (30 some years ago).
- notatoad 9y ago
  >the only thing really against it is the suburban sprawl as much as HN (me included) likes to complain about sprawl, don't forget that there's plenty of people who love the suburbs. Sprawl is not a downside for everybody - the people who like it just call it "affordable single-family homes" and "quiet neighbourhoods" instead of sprawl
  - JBlue42 9y ago
    Good point and, as a city resident, I wouldn't mind a bit of peace and quiet myself (but would go more extreme and get as rural as possible). I think on this I was thinking more the requirements of the HQ2 which specifically mentioned mass transit routes. Also, more generally, the parent was talking about the 'network effect' of SF and the culture there. When you're isolated in your affordable single-family home and commute to your office park that vastly differs from the serendipity and collision of people, thoughts, opportunities that you have living in a denser place where you come across more people daily, one would think. I assume that's why cities are more liberal - that we have to put up with, tolerate, and can empathize with a wider variety of people than the isolation of house->car->work->car->house. Just speculating there.
pm90 9y ago
> That's the problem, how do you spark the network effect? People don't setup in SF for ironic atari t-shirts, they're there for the talent pool and infrastructure (i.e. the stuff amazon will bring) In short, you bring them in for other reasons. The most common being Universities, but it can also be Government or Private Sector research labs. One oft overlooked factor in Silicon Valley's success has been the great Universities nearby attracting some of the brightest people from all over the world. Pittsburgh (CMU), Raleigh-Durham (UNC) and Austin (UT, TAMU) are succeeding in tech for similar reasons.

JBlue42 9y ago

People have been talking lately about how Pittsburgh has turned things around. The Raleigh-Durham area is always talked about as kind of an unappreciated, affordable place for tech people to work. Both downtowns have improved over the past decade or two (like in many small cities), the three big universities have plenty of students, RTP is around, the only thing really against it is the suburban sprawl. I hear they are getting light rail but I've heard people talking about rail in NC since I was a child (30 some years ago).

notatoad 9y ago
>the only thing really against it is the suburban sprawl as much as HN (me included) likes to complain about sprawl, don't forget that there's plenty of people who love the suburbs. Sprawl is not a downside for everybody - the people who like it just call it "affordable single-family homes" and "quiet neighbourhoods" instead of sprawl
- JBlue42 9y ago
  Good point and, as a city resident, I wouldn't mind a bit of peace and quiet myself (but would go more extreme and get as rural as possible). I think on this I was thinking more the requirements of the HQ2 which specifically mentioned mass transit routes. Also, more generally, the parent was talking about the 'network effect' of SF and the culture there. When you're isolated in your affordable single-family home and commute to your office park that vastly differs from the serendipity and collision of people, thoughts, opportunities that you have living in a denser place where you come across more people daily, one would think. I assume that's why cities are more liberal - that we have to put up with, tolerate, and can empathize with a wider variety of people than the isolation of house->car->work->car->house. Just speculating there.

pm90 9y ago

> That's the problem, how do you spark the network effect? People don't setup in SF for ironic atari t-shirts, they're there for the talent pool and infrastructure (i.e. the stuff amazon will bring) In short, you bring them in for other reasons. The most common being Universities, but it can also be Government or Private Sector research labs. One oft overlooked factor in Silicon Valley's success has been the great Universities nearby attracting some of the brightest people from all over the world. Pittsburgh (CMU), Raleigh-Durham (UNC) and Austin (UT, TAMU) are succeeding in tech for similar reasons.