

The Density of Smart People [+ data available for download] - soji
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/05/the-density-of-smart-people/57384/

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freescale
The analysis is silly. By either by car or public transport, it can easily
take 45 minutes to travel from Cambridge, MA to Jamaica Plain, MA, even though
they are only one mile apart. This is even more pronounced in NYC. In the
urban sprawl that is the Midwest, 15 miles can easily be traversed in 45
minutes.

The analysis would have more bite if it were redone with an eye towards
mapping 'temporal' density, rather than spatial density. This would better
reflect the ease of meeting in person.

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nostrademons
Cambridge and Jamaica Plain are actually more like 6 miles apart. Hell, it's a
mile just to get from Harvard Square to Central Square in Cambridge.

I agree that travel time matters more than distance, though, and it'd be more
interesting to see this redone in terms of "smart people per travel-minute".
It only takes about 20 minutes (outside of rush hour) to get from Burlington
to Needham, MA, despite them being 20 miles apart. Meanwhile, it can take 20
minutes to get from Cambridgeport to Harvard Square, despite them being about
1 mile apart.

There're similar effects in Silicon Valley - it's about 10 minutes to get from
Palo Alto to Sunnyvale despite them being 7-10 miles apart, while it can be 10
minutes to get from SOMA to Market St in SF.

