Slashdot Mirror
Top U.S. Tech Cities
srizah writes "Wired.com claims to have used a 'scientific methodology' to rate the top 10 tech towns in the US. They use some very reliable indexes, like 'Craigslist postings per capita' or 'Number of attendees at local meetings of dorkbot'. The usual suspects (Seattle, San Francisco) show up on the list, but some might surprise you. From the article: 'Raleigh-Duram - The jocks here may get worked up about college hoops, but the tech set is passionate about Linux distros and Mac-PC holy wars. North Carolina's Triangle is ground zero for Red Hat, SAS Institute, and an IBM center. Bonus: The area hosts two World Beer Festivals a year.'"
'Craigslist postings per capita'. Because we all know the number of Craigslist posting is about as scientific as one can get.
How did this filler article get on Slashdot?
They have icons in the article that don't appear in the legend. AUSTIN has a spot for an icon without an icon. Somehow, the Bay Area doesn't have a university rating, even though it has Stanford and Cal.
I could go on, but I wasted enough of my time, and yours.
What about places like Los Alamos (LANL), Albuquerque (SNL, LM etc.) or Batavia (FNAL).
If by tech they only mean CS related stuff, then sure, that list makes sense.
But Los Alamos has some of the smartest and best people and has a lot of "real" tech.
I mean, if particle accelerators, rocket science and weapons tech. don't constitute real technology while AJAX is counted as a technology, I must be missing something.
Surely that's a negative index. What an utterly useless franchise.
- chad
It's "Durham". Jesus, Slashdot editors can't even copy and paste now? Is that a Linux problem?
But seriously, RDU shouldn't be a surprise. We have Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and NC State all within 30 minutes or so from each other, and we have Research Triangle Park here. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill was a great, cheap place to enjoy the dot-com boom. We've got IBM (10,000+ employees), Cisco, a small MS office, whatever MCI is now (worldcom?), Nortel, Ericsson, Red Hat, and tons and tons of start ups.
Also, UNC-Chapel Hill is home to Sunsite, which became ibiblio. So yeah, it's dork heaven, but without the SF prices.
Maybe if someone knew what the hell Provo/Orem means.
I have found there are just two ways to go.
It all comes down to livin' fast or dyin' slow. -REK, Jr.
Lots of suburban wasteland hell. Personally, I'd rather eat glass than go back to working there. So many boring IT companies doing boring stuff too. Yuck, but I guess somebody has to do it somewhere.
What about [insert city or region here]?! It has [insert club, university, or company here]!!! Because I live here or went to school here, it MUST be in this list!
Carl
Vote Libertarian
Yeah, but at least there's lots of parking!
Utah. Because when people think Utah, they think tech. Thats what those missionaries are pushing right? Upgrades and virus protection?
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Portland, Oregon, had a free wireless project downtown FIVE YEARS AGO.
Is Circuit City really sponsoring this? I'd have thought they'd have chosen Fry's, instead, for a techie store.
The Portland area actually has both, actually.
And wtf is dorkbot? This seems all about promoting pet projects (or sponsors).
It is because the list can't figure out which it is, Most Geek or Most Tech.
I mean, they talk about the top 10 Tech Towns, but then it is more about where to be a geek than where to find tech. Thus the inclusion of Circuit City Stores (which IMHO don't belong on a Geek list), because "geeks shop there". Also look at the inclusion of Comic book shops, personal ads, and Dorkbot.
Sorry, but I thought this was a list of top Tech towns. But it is a list of top geek towns, and as a resident of Austin, I am embarrased by its inclusion.
RonB
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
Slashdot should be able to pull a majority of our IPs and figure out what general area we are browsing the web from. Then you could compare how many unique hits you got from a particular state/providence/country vs the entire population of that area and get a "geek index". Might want to toss something in there for volume as well for corporations/schools, etc. Would not be completely accurate but a hell of a lot closer then the "circuit city index".
I keep telling myself I'm not the desperate type.
Dude, Texans aren't worse than people anywhere else. In fact, as long as you're not killing anyone, they're probably more likely to leave you alone and not complain than "sophisticated" Easterners and Californians. Every place has its reputation, but everywhere you get cool people and sucky people. Try to find the cool ones and ignore the others. Life's too short to do otherwise.
-b.
AUSTIN
Inspiration for Slacker, epicenter of the first EFF battle, home to Dell, Whole Foods, and South by Southwest. Not to mention host to the most dorkbot attendees in the country. Only downside: It's surrounded by Texas.
I'm going to have to chime in with the other people who are disagreeing. While it sure is popular to hate on Texas, I'd be willing to be that the vast majority of people who do so have never actually lived here. We've got beautiful landscapes, a low cost-of-living, plenty of space, and three of the top ten largest cities in the US. Yes, the majority of people here consider themselves Republicans, but if you're willing to get past somebody's political views, there are also lots of friendly people. About the only thing I don't like is that the summers get so dang hot.. but the mild winters (unless you live up in the panhandle) make up for it.
Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
I took offense to that too. "Austin is surrounded by Texas."
In Texas is Houston. Which contains Compaq (HP, now), Woot.com and NASA. Come on, is NASA not techie enough for you? Rice U, medical center and UofH.
San Antonio has the river walk (Beer fest!) and a slew of military bases.
Dallas... well, it had a TV show.
And there ain't nothin' wrong with Texans. Your average Texas redneck will give you the shirt off his back (not that you'd want it), have you over for dinner and offer you a place to stay if you needed it. Who was it that took in all those Katrina evacuees? I'll give you a hint: I didn't see Georgia or even friggin Louisiana stepping up to help out!
Oh, and Texas girls are some of the hottest anywhere. They qualify as Texas as well! Maybe the author doesn't like girls!
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
And let's not forget, also the home of http://freegeek.org/ "Helping the needy get nerdy since the beginning of the 3rd millenium"
Hey, Mom! Is it beer, yet?
That's funny, I can't seem to find any place in my posting that disparages Craigslist. I personally enjoy the site and use it for a wide variety of purposes, and it has been more than helpful in just about every aspect. However, I would not consider the activity level on the site itself to be any indication of how "tech friendly" a particular location is. All it really takes to utilize the site is a working internet browser and a working level of knowledge towards the site's very existence. A number of people I know regularly browse through the postings on Craigslist, and the majority of them could not be considered "tech"y in the least. The vast number of references I hear towards the site, in conversation or otherwise, are in reference to housing and job postings - not something that requires any technical background. Perhaps these people are the non-tech exception to the average user, but I cannot base my opinion beyond my direct experience. Given this, I cannot see why Craiglist, in particular, was used as relative data for "scientific" research on how tech-savvy a particular city is - as opposed to other potential factors that might bear more significance.
The usual suspects (Seattle, San Francisco) show up on the list, but some might surprise you.
I looked at the list, and in fact it was mostly the usual suspects. I mean everyone knows there is a big tech presence in Raleigh/Durham and Austin. About the only really surprising inclusion is Orlando, and it was the most poorly justified of all of them. Substitute Portland, OR for Orlando on their list and you have basically the conventional wisdom on what the major tech centers in the US are.
"(Man) tries to live his own life as if he were telling a story. But you have to choose: live or tell." --Sartre
Don't worry, the coastal elite will leave you alone too.
Portland has more strip clubs per capita than any city in America.t rip_clubs_help.php
http://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2006/12/s
In GOD we trust, all others we monitor.