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This won't happen, and Oklahoma/Tulsa needs to fess up to that reality and make a real plan for their economic future. If we're honest, DC/AZ/OR are the "third

This won't happen, and Oklahoma/Tulsa needs to fess up to that reality and make a real plan for their economic future. If we're honest, DC/AZ/OR are the "third tech hubs" after SF and then Seattle/Boston/NYC. The ambition for a midwest tech hub to join those ranks is not insane in general. Pittsburgh could make a reasonable play because, unlike Tulsa, in Carnegie Mellon it actually does have a continuous pipeline of world-class talent. Milwaukee, MSP, KC, sure, worth a long shot (with Madison <-> Milwaukee <-> Chicago HSR it'd be the short short, but, well...). Heck, why shouldn't St. Louis's Central West End be the Kendall Square of midwest biotech?! But not Tulsa. That's just not the right play, and time is not on the region's side. Oklahoma is heading the way of Venezuela -- a horribly mismanaged and ultimately failed oil state dependent on handouts from its primary trading partners (in this case via the US federal government). It can burst forth from the ashes, but it doesn't have Carnegie Mellon or UW-Madison or the U Chicago & the CME or Wash U. It won't succeed at the "Midwest Tech Hub" play. It needs a different play. IDK what that play is, which is why I'm not betting my mortgage payments on the future of that particular region. But I do sincerely hope they eventually figure it out.

jjeaff 6y ago
I think the greater Salt Lake City area is making a somewhat successfull play so far to become "the silicon slopes".
nostrademons 6y ago
DC/AZ/OR seems like an odd choice for third-tier tech hubs. If I had to rank U.S. metro areas in terms of favorability for tech, I would do: Tier 1: Bay Area Tier 2: NYC, Seattle, Boston Tier 3: Research Triangle, Pittsburg, Chicago Tier 4: Austin, Boulder, Portland, LA/Santa Monica, Ann Arbor Tier 5: Everywhere else. There's some industry-specific tech support in various other cities (eg. oil in Houston, automotive in Detroit), but in terms of a general tech industry, they don't really register.
- ketamine__ 6y ago
  How can Chicago be below Austin? Chicago has Groupon, 1871, and Lightbank. Austin's downtown doesn't even compare to Chicago's downtown. It's horrible.
  - nostrademons 6y ago
    You're right; Chicago should be Tier 3. Editing the list a bit. There's a bit of a per-capita effect, though, where Chicago has a much larger population and many more other industries than say Austin, Boulder, or Portland, which makes them seem more tech-based even though the absolute number of firms & VC dollars is less.
    - throwawaygh 6y ago
      It just depends. Plenty of great fintech in Chicago because of CME. Also plenty of great biotech in Chicago. The SFBA B2C thing is not great in Chicago. IMO that's a retired man's game, but I thought bitcoin was dumb in 2010 so wtf do I know.
  - dvtrn 6y ago
    Lived in one, now a resident in the other, Austin's downtown doesn't even compare to the downtown of the other major cities in its own state, if you even only talked about public transit. Going east to west is a nightmare of transfers, going north to south (in non-COVID times) is a nightmare of sitting on either Guadalupe for an hour to go two miles or sitting on Lamar for an hour to go two miles. And that's IF your CapMetro bus is running on time that day. You'll do marginally better driving your own car if you catch that section of Guadalupe going south right at the perfect time when the lights slowly cascade to green as you approach Riverside. (Course the tradeoff here in Chicago is looping the block endlessly looking for a parking spot, but in non pandemic times, I'd trade the CTA for CapMetro in a heartbeat)
    - ketamine__ 6y ago
      I'm not anti-Austin. I would live there for a year if the cost of living was cut in half. I just don't think the value is there.
- mech422 6y ago
  Don't be so quick to push AZ out of the running.. we have (off the top of my head): Intel, Paypal, Zelle, American Express, Wells Fargo, Iridium, and supposedly a $26 Billion TSMC fab coming in the next few years. Tempe has offices for MS, KPMG, Norton/Lifelock, Netskope - and those were just what I could see from our LimeLight offices. That's on top of a pretty decent start-up/small biz scene. I'm always surprised by how much tech. we have here now. So much more opportunity then back in 2000s..
xfitm3 6y ago
There are plenty of successful states that aren't focused on tech. I moved to one of them, and I'm enjoying my life a lot more. I was miserable in California – it's not for everyone. I'm betting that tech won't come to my area any time soon and that's a great thing.
- wrsh07 6y ago
  I was careful to hedge that becoming a tech hub is not an inherent boon. It "could" be great, but I'm pretty sympathetic to locals being resistant to a bunch of tech cos and workers coming to their area and dramatically changing the fabric of the local culture without providing any benefits (or even a voice) to those who had lived there for the previous decades

jjeaff 6y ago

I think the greater Salt Lake City area is making a somewhat successfull play so far to become "the silicon slopes".

nostrademons 6y ago

DC/AZ/OR seems like an odd choice for third-tier tech hubs. If I had to rank U.S. metro areas in terms of favorability for tech, I would do: Tier 1: Bay Area Tier 2: NYC, Seattle, Boston Tier 3: Research Triangle, Pittsburg, Chicago Tier 4: Austin, Boulder, Portland, LA/Santa Monica, Ann Arbor Tier 5: Everywhere else. There's some industry-specific tech support in various other cities (eg. oil in Houston, automotive in Detroit), but in terms of a general tech industry, they don't really register.

ketamine__ 6y ago
How can Chicago be below Austin? Chicago has Groupon, 1871, and Lightbank. Austin's downtown doesn't even compare to Chicago's downtown. It's horrible.
- nostrademons 6y ago
  You're right; Chicago should be Tier 3. Editing the list a bit. There's a bit of a per-capita effect, though, where Chicago has a much larger population and many more other industries than say Austin, Boulder, or Portland, which makes them seem more tech-based even though the absolute number of firms & VC dollars is less.
  - throwawaygh 6y ago
    It just depends. Plenty of great fintech in Chicago because of CME. Also plenty of great biotech in Chicago. The SFBA B2C thing is not great in Chicago. IMO that's a retired man's game, but I thought bitcoin was dumb in 2010 so wtf do I know.
- dvtrn 6y ago
  Lived in one, now a resident in the other, Austin's downtown doesn't even compare to the downtown of the other major cities in its own state, if you even only talked about public transit. Going east to west is a nightmare of transfers, going north to south (in non-COVID times) is a nightmare of sitting on either Guadalupe for an hour to go two miles or sitting on Lamar for an hour to go two miles. And that's IF your CapMetro bus is running on time that day. You'll do marginally better driving your own car if you catch that section of Guadalupe going south right at the perfect time when the lights slowly cascade to green as you approach Riverside. (Course the tradeoff here in Chicago is looping the block endlessly looking for a parking spot, but in non pandemic times, I'd trade the CTA for CapMetro in a heartbeat)
  - ketamine__ 6y ago
    I'm not anti-Austin. I would live there for a year if the cost of living was cut in half. I just don't think the value is there.
mech422 6y ago
Don't be so quick to push AZ out of the running.. we have (off the top of my head): Intel, Paypal, Zelle, American Express, Wells Fargo, Iridium, and supposedly a $26 Billion TSMC fab coming in the next few years. Tempe has offices for MS, KPMG, Norton/Lifelock, Netskope - and those were just what I could see from our LimeLight offices. That's on top of a pretty decent start-up/small biz scene. I'm always surprised by how much tech. we have here now. So much more opportunity then back in 2000s..

xfitm3 6y ago

There are plenty of successful states that aren't focused on tech. I moved to one of them, and I'm enjoying my life a lot more. I was miserable in California – it's not for everyone. I'm betting that tech won't come to my area any time soon and that's a great thing.

wrsh07 6y ago
I was careful to hedge that becoming a tech hub is not an inherent boon. It "could" be great, but I'm pretty sympathetic to locals being resistant to a bunch of tech cos and workers coming to their area and dramatically changing the fabric of the local culture without providing any benefits (or even a voice) to those who had lived there for the previous decades