Silicon Valley Is Over, Says Silicon Valley - I can believe this. Head for the Midwest!!!

[RKP5637]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/04/technology/silicon-valley-midwest.html

“Oh my god, this is so cute!”

Robin Li, an investor with the San Francisco venture capital firm GGV Capital, was standing in the lobby of the Madison building in downtown Detroit. Built in 1917 as a theater and refurbished several years ago as a tech co-working space, the Madison checks all of the aesthetic boxes of hipsterdom: reclaimed wood, exposed brick walls, pour-over coffee served by tattooed baristas.

“This is nicer than San Francisco,” Ms. Li concluded.

Last month, I accompanied Ms. Li and roughly a dozen other venture capitalists on a three-day bus trip through the Midwest, with stops in Youngstown and Akron, Ohio; Detroit and Flint, Mich.; and South Bend, Ind. The trip, which took place on a luxury bus outfitted with a supply of vegan doughnuts and coal-infused kombucha, was known as the “Comeback Cities Tour.”

It was pitched as a kind of Rust Belt safari — a chance for Silicon Valley investors to meet local officials and look for promising start-ups in overlooked areas of the country.

These investors aren’t alone. In recent months, a growing number of tech leaders have been flirting with the idea of leaving Silicon Valley. Some cite the exorbitant cost of living in San Francisco and its suburbs, where even a million-dollar salary can feel middle class. Others complain about local criticism of the tech industry and a left-wing echo chamber that stifles opposing views. And yet others feel that better innovation is happening elsewhere.

“I’m a little over San Francisco,” said Patrick McKenna, the founder of High Ridge Venture Partners who was also on the bus tour. “It’s so expensive, it’s so congested, and frankly, you also see opportunities in other places.”

[Cattledog]

1. Pittsburgh is the place to go.

Decades before the NBA and Shark Tank, years before making his fortune in tech, Mark Cuban was a kid growing up in Pittsburgh, selling garbage bags to scrounge together enough money for basketball shoes in the working-class industrial city.

Cuban has made it big — and so, too, has his hometown, which is almost unrecognizable to the billionaire entrepreneur.

“It’s a different world. UPMC, CMU, and University of Pittsburgh changed everything,” Cuban tells GeekWire, referring to Pittsburgh’s marquee institutions like a native. “It went from Rust Belt to AI and Med Belt. I’m so proud of what has happened. Now it’s a young vibrant city that has an amazing workforce.”

A renaissance is occurring in the Steel City.

Once an American manufacturing epicenter that nearly imploded in the 1980s as the mighty steel mills closed, Pittsburgh is poised to become a global tech hub in one of the country’s most livable metropolitan areas. The big challenges now: continuing to rebound without pushing out longtime Pittsburgh residents, attracting more investment capital to fuel the region’s big startup ideas, and replenishing a city that continues to see population declines.

It’s more common now to see software engineers than steel workers crowd into Pittsburgh’s famous Primanti Brothers sandwich shop in the Strip District. The mining industry in this town is now about data, not coal.

“The new export commodity is eds, meds, and tech,” noted Rasu Shrestha, chief innovation officer at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a nod to the education, medical, and technology innovation in the city.

https://www.geekwire.com/2018/pittsburgh-forges-new-future-remaking-iconic-steel-town-modern-innovation-factory/

[RKP5637]

9. Beautiful!!! n/t

[Demovictory9]

30. wow. pretty

[MissB]

41. Yep!

One of our sons is at Pitt. We thought about buying a house there for him to live in while a student but decided against it. Housing stock there is still very reasonable.

[comradebillyboy]

2. I really don't expect an exodus of talent moving

from California or the East Coast cities to the mid-west. They like functioning infrastructure and functioning government.

[Zorro]

4. They also like mild weather

[Garrett78]

12. That's why my wife and I live in Northern CA. I grew up in the Midwest and I'm not going back.

[joshcryer]

38. Saw the title was going to post this.

Detroit winters would be a non-starter for these types.

[HipChick]

5. Much of the work can be conducted remotely..

so geographic location is not as a high as. a factor..

[comradebillyboy]

7. Winter in Michigan vs winter in California

Where do I want to be?

[Downtown Hound]

10. 60% of my paycheck on rent or 20%? Where do I want to be?

You can wear a jacket in the snow and crank the heat up. And you'll actually have money to afford both of those things because nearly every penny you make isn't going towards having a roof over your head.

[Jake Stern]

28. Yes

Denver is now one of those Tech/Hipster meccas and it's reflected in the almost obscene cost of living. The rent for my itty bitty duplex is slated to go up $550 a month ($1400 to $1950) after the lease expires thanks to one of those wonderful, vegan doughnut eating, kombucha drinking California investors who just bought it.

Lubbock may be boring but it's affordable.

[RKP5637]

13. Some people love the winter weather. n/t

[sarisataka]

18. I spent some Winters in California

And move back to Minnesota first chance I had

[mnhtnbb]

35. The soon to be PhD wife of my nephew

who is getting her degree at Caltech insisted that when the dual PhD couple settled permanently it had to be somewhere with cold weather because she loves coats! Her husband is now an assistant professor in the chemistry department at U of Wisconsin in Madison. She's going to get to wear a lot of coats!

He grew up in Iowa and she grew up in Connecticut so they both know cold.

[dalton99a]

6. Doubtful they'll make a dent in the Bay Area-Seattle-Austin axis anytime soon

(by Austin I mean the San Antonio-Austin-Dallas corridor)

[Downtown Hound]

8. I've lived in Norcal for more than 30 years

And I love this state. There are few places on the planet more beautiful. But even I'm thinking about leaving. The cost of living here has gotten beyond insane. People making $100,000 a year are struggling. If California does not do something about its housing crisis, you will see an exodus from this state. It's inevitable. The ironic thing is that might not be a bad thing for us Democrats on a national level. If we start resettling in other parts of the country, that electoral college advantage that Republicans currently enjoy will start to go away. That's what happened in in formerly red Nevada. California Dems started moving there due to cheap housing and plenty of jobs, and we turned the state blue. We could easily do that to other states, and we've got millions of Dems to spare here.

[RKP5637]

11. I lived in Norcal for a number of years, big house, the whole bit ... I left. There are some

nice places in the Midwest. Many hitech people in the Midwest love the winters and all.

[sarisataka]

19. Infrastructure around here is fine

I had to take the Buckboard into town today and didn't even bust a wheel with the pot holes mostly filled in now.

They even got a new bucket for the town well...

[SammyWinstonJack]

21. Ha!

[NickB79]

22. Welcome to Minnesota!

We got it all in the Twin Cities. Just remember your parka 😁

[Blue_true]

23. Then hire from nearby universities.

You may be able to convince one Stanford MBA to relocate if he or she is young enough and has a sense of adventure, but the bulk of your talent will come from local universities, kids that grew up in the state or region. A California person from LA or the Bay Area would never move to my part of Florida unless there was a pile of money involved (which is silly to pay out), but a UF, Univ. of South Florida, or FSU kid that was born and raised in Florida would be glad to hire on if the opportunity is right. The same logic goes for the Midwest. Some regions like NYC and Boston are blessed with lots of top universities, so they crank out plenty of local and imported talent that come for school and don't want to leave when done with school.

[JI7]

36. High cost of living might get some to move

but it won't mean silicon valley is "over".

[wasupaloopa]

3. Good bye techies. You leave more for the rest of us. Take your shuttle busses with you

Maybe we can save some affordable neighborhoods from gentrification.

[xmas74]

14. KC has been attempting to be part of the program

They're revitalizing their downtown, with the addition of the streetcars going to UMKC. They have a thriving music scene and are working on festivals to bring in traffic. The arts scene has been a hidden gem for a long time. The past few years they've marketed themselves as being a hot market for women in tech, telling them they can leave the Old Boys Club behind and start fresh with opportunities.

You'll see more of this if Kander becomes mayor. There are plenty of great candidates but he has the name recognition to get the city noticed.

[RKP5637]

15. KC is a beautiful city. I don't think most realize what KC is like, and the revitalization

going on is incredible!!!

[xmas74]

16. The tech market is booming

And they are trying to turn it into a city that appeals to singles, to the youth, to families and retirees. One of my favorite museums in the US is the Nelson and most don't even realize its free.

My kid is interning with the McCaskill/Galloway coordinated HQ this summer. She can't count it as a college internship because she is expected to travel. She plans to talk to her advisor this fall about working the Kander campaign, possibly as a paid intern. She plans on working political campaigns with her degree and has decided that Missouri has a few very interesting politicians who will be future stars so she's staying to work with them.

KC and Missouri has been written off but I really believe it's going to make a big splash soon on the national front. Sly James has been a good mayor.

[RKP5637]

20. I think it has enormous potential, plus there are great schools there! n/t

[uponit7771]

26. +1, in contrast the S-holes in Kansas. Couldn't find a house in KCK cause the schools STANK

[xmas74]

33. You'd need Shawnee Mission or Leawood

For those Kansas schools. Blue Valley and such.

Lee's Summit and Blue Springs have decent schools. I'm in Warrington ours aren't bad because they work as learning labs for UCM.

[chowder66]

29. Hmmm. This is the first time maybe ever I've been even interested in moving back to KC.

I was born and raised there and am tired of L.A. The only issue I really have is that since the 80's they said they were going to revitalize KC. The problem came from Kansas and especially later when Sprint moved into Overland Park. It seemed to steal the thunder.

I have seen downtown since they've built it up and I'm impressed and depressed about it.
I used to live in one of the old warehouses down there. Had 3000 s.q. feet for $400 a month back then. This was about 5 years or so before they started turning them into condos. It's a little too glossy for my taste now but it needed the boost.

KC Metro is a great place to grow up. Has always had a great art scene and music scene. Used to work at the Nelson and to this day, it is still my favorite job. I've been on the finance end in the tech industry since the late 90's so I'm a little interested in your comment about how they are trying to make it a hot market for women.

[xmas74]

32. Absolutely look into it.

I'm in Warrensburg and the companies are on campus at UCM regularly for recruitment, especially for women. I'd like to think a bit of experience would really interest them.

Think about how much money you could save here! The arts and music scene is booming, Boulevard always wins awards for its beers, Missouri is making a nice wine push statewide and most are already sure that Kander will be the next mayor. Sly James was already pushing for bigger draws and events in KC. Kander is already recognized nationwide and will help the draw.

If you make it back drop me a line. I head up there regularly for various protests and meetings. KC itself is still very blue.

[chowder66]

42. It refreshing to hear a positive perspective on KC from someone in the know.

I loved it growing up but eventually it became a little small for me, now I'm ready for a smaller city again especially with the tech opportunities. I've been paying attention to Kander and really like him plus my family is still there as well as some old friends that I still stay in contact with. I'll definitely look into it. And thanks for the warm invite, I might just drop you line if I make it back.

[JDC]

17. Austin seems to atract a lot of tech

[Blue_true]

24. Why not. It has everything. nt

[SoCalDem]

25. There was a junior high school in N.Dakota

for sale for a ridiculous [price. It was in great condition ...had a great gym and kitchen.. and foot ball field..and all the equipment to maintain the grounds..

I remember commenting at the time, that THIS type of facility works for artists/IT types who work in collaborative fields and can work from anywhere..

There are schools all over the midwest..and churches too that would offer great facilities.. weather is not great though

[jpak]

27. Coal-infused kombucha?

Is that really a thing?

WTF

[RKP5637]

31. Depends where you are. Many parts of the Midwest are beautiful. n/t

[KentuckyWoman]

34. Mason, OH

Tech central for Cincinnati. Gob of money sloshing around. In 20 years no one will be able to afford their own house because the taxes based on ridiculous assessments.

[RKP5637]

39. Yep, seems to be the America way now, displace people with gobs of money. And taxes go up

for stupid reasons, often with no community benefits. NJ is one example with their insane housing taxes.

[Raine]

37. Good, maybe the exorbitant prices for things here especially

property will at least level out.

[RKP5637]

40. Hope so! Property cost/taxes - insanely ridiculous. n/t