Startups Ditching Silicon Valley For New Cities (economist.com)

The rising cost of living in Silicon Valley is pushing startups out, the Economist reports, and re-focusing innovation in new cities around the country [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source]. From the story: More Americans are leaving the Valley than moving to it. In 2017 several counties in the area saw their largest combined domestic outward migrations in around a decade. In a recent survey by the Bay Area Council, a think-tank, 46% of Bay Area residents said they planned to leave in "the next few years," up from 34% in 2016. This is not just a case of people of more modest means being pushed out by carpet-bagging techies. At this year's "FOO camp," a freewheeling annual gathering of hackers and others, a session called "Should I/you leave the Bay Area?" saw a strong turnout. Participants shared their gripes about the high cost of living, bad traffic and a "toxic" culture obsessed with money.

Comments

Re:Why work in an expensive, high tax state...

[The Original CDR]

Anti-growth policies keep more housing from being built, and extreme regulation drives companies away.

Google plans to build a new downtown San Jose campus for 20K employees. Apple is buying up land for a new campus in North San Jose. Adobe bought a lot across the street from their current San Jose headquarters to build a new tower. So much for "extreme regulation" driving away companies.

Re:Why work in an expensive, high tax state...

[LynnwoodRooster]

The issue isn't buying land for new office buildings - the issue is the tight housing market with insane valuations. And crazy traffic as well. Or dealing with taxi drivers urinating and defecating in SFO parking lots.