

Silicon Valley Shaped by Technology and Traffic - mqt
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/technology/20cluster.html?ex=1355806800&en=02544ab50aae63b8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

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geebee
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.

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mattmaroon
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.

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supahfly_remix
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.

