4 ms·

Silicon Valley Shaped by Technology and Traffic

16 points by mqt 19y ago

mattmaroon 19y ago
Traffic does keep me homebound here quite often. I'd probably leave my house at least twice as much in any other suburban area. I guess that's good when you're working on a startup though.
supahfly_remix 19y ago
Wow what a conclusion, companies cluster. It's not as if this hasn't been happening since at least the Industrial Revolution. Also, they picked some of the lamest companies to put in the map: e.g., Fujitsu data systems, National Semiconductor. I think the article was just a placement for Palo Alto Networking. I expect better of the Times.
geebee 19y ago
Here's a question: where do you stand on the San Francisco vs. Silicon Valley location? Personally, I really don't enjoy the physical environment of silicon valley. I've never actually worked in downtown SF, because I'm not willing to pass on good opportunities just because they aren't in the city. But my (then girlfriend, now wife) worked close to the embarcadero for a magazine, so we always lived in the city, and once I had a kid and needed a house, I relocated to the southern section of SF (where at least I can hit silicon valley quickly). It's just so much more fun to be in SF. For starters, I like having a lot of women around. They usually aren't coworkers (for whatever reason, that's just the way it goes in Software), but I like being able to walk to a bar or coffee shop. Even when you're married and truly are not in the dating market, it's nice to be able to step away from the sea of males that is the high technology field - and if you are trying to meet women, it seems like SF would be vastly preferable. I also found that the line between social life and work blurs more for SF-based companies - and in a good way. When I worked for Sun, we would occasionally all agree to get in our cars after work and drive somewhere to meet up for drinks (just one, cause you have to drive home). At my wife's company, everyone would just walk by a few local bars after work, far more often, and because everyone is taking public transportation home, they could actually stay for another round. Now this might be because journalists are a more social breed than programmers and engineers, but I think the physical environment must have something to do with it.

16 points by mqt 19y ago

Traffic does keep me homebound here quite often. I'd probably leave my house at least twice as much in any other suburban area. I guess that's good when you're working on a startup though.

supahfly_remix 19y ago

Wow what a conclusion, companies cluster. It's not as if this hasn't been happening since at least the Industrial Revolution. Also, they picked some of the lamest companies to put in the map: e.g., Fujitsu data systems, National Semiconductor. I think the article was just a placement for Palo Alto Networking. I expect better of the Times.

geebee 19y ago

Here's a question: where do you stand on the San Francisco vs. Silicon Valley location? Personally, I really don't enjoy the physical environment of silicon valley. I've never actually worked in downtown SF, because I'm not willing to pass on good opportunities just because they aren't in the city. But my (then girlfriend, now wife) worked close to the embarcadero for a magazine, so we always lived in the city, and once I had a kid and needed a house, I relocated to the southern section of SF (where at least I can hit silicon valley quickly). It's just so much more fun to be in SF. For starters, I like having a lot of women around. They usually aren't coworkers (for whatever reason, that's just the way it goes in Software), but I like being able to walk to a bar or coffee shop. Even when you're married and truly are not in the dating market, it's nice to be able to step away from the sea of males that is the high technology field - and if you are trying to meet women, it seems like SF would be vastly preferable. I also found that the line between social life and work blurs more for SF-based companies - and in a good way. When I worked for Sun, we would occasionally all agree to get in our cars after work and drive somewhere to meet up for drinks (just one, cause you have to drive home). At my wife's company, everyone would just walk by a few local bars after work, far more often, and because everyone is taking public transportation home, they could actually stay for another round. Now this might be because journalists are a more social breed than programmers and engineers, but I think the physical environment must have something to do with it.