
Detroit Could Become the Silicon Valley of the Midwest - tdrag
http://www.venturedlife.com/episode-three
======
7Figures2Commas
These "Silicon Valley of [insert city]" articles are tiresome. Notwithstanding
the fact that Silicon Valley doesn't represent the same thing to everyone,
these articles tend to gloss over a number of facts:

1\. "Silicon Valley" basically covers the area from San Francisco to San Jose.
There are also a growing number of companies in the East Bay. "Silicon Valley"
is not a city, it's a sizable (and effectively growing) geographic region.

2\. While startups are a prominent part of "Silicon Valley" lore, most
startups fail and are incredibly vulnerable to economic cycles. Dozens of
large companies are the glue that hold Silicon Valley together. There is a
revolving door between these large, established companies and startups and it
provides a talent pool to startups and safety net to tech workers that no
other region can currently match. Attracting "startups" to your city is the
easy part; attracting (or organically growing) the big companies is the hard
part.

3\. Not only is there more money for tech investment in Silicon Valley, there
are more sources of it. One side of Sand Hill Road probably has more venture
firms ready to write checks to technology startups than most cities have in
total. That's not going to change any time soon.

4\. While the percentage of total employed persons in the Bay Area who work in
tech is much higher than the national average, it's still below 10%. The
economy here is incredibly diverse and there are plenty of people earning good
money in other industries like law, finance and medicine. In fact, a lot of
folks working in these fields in the Bay Area make more than the average tech
worker. Without this kind of strong broad-based economy, a city or region
won't be able to replicate "Silicon Valley."

5\. California's weather can't be beat.

~~~
walshemj
And the relatively liberal employment laws help.

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kimmel
After reading this article I can tell that the author does not understand the
problems going on in Detroit and has not even been there. The city is a 3rd
world country. Besides the abandoned/burned out buildings and crime the city
has serious business relation problems. There are no grocery stores within
city limits because of lack of customers and local crime rates. Go to google
maps and look for meijer, walmart, target, etc and none are in the city. This
is a very unattractive position for both businesses and employees since most
other cities do not have this problem. Shopping in Detroit is not convenient
at all.

Add to that the high unemployment rate, the police problems, the near infinite
amount of house and building fires, the poor public transit system and the
total lack of bike lines. The only positive to Detroit is cheap land and
buildings in many cases. Almost forgot about the city filing for bankruptcy
too, that never inspires confidence.

~~~
munro
> There are no grocery stores within city limits because of lack of customers
> and local crime rates.

First one that came to mind was the Whole Foods [1] next to the hospital. They
look to be doing very well from the hospital employees.

[1]
[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Whole+Foods+Market/@42.349...](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Whole+Foods+Market/@42.3499166,-83.0573079,16z/data=!4m5!1m2!2m1!1swhole+foods+near+detroit!3m1!1s0x0:0x121fe0e7f1858d0c)

~~~
karpodiem
it's nearly impossible to find a parking spot at that whole foods during
business hours (which is a good thing!)

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analog31
I grew up in a suburb south of Detroit, graduated high school in the early
80's. Many of my neighbors, and parents of friends, were involved in the auto
industry in some form or fashion. If we weren't making cars, we were making
pieces of cars, chemicals for making pieces of cars, machines for making and
repairing cars, and so forth.

There seemed to be an inexorable cycle: During good times, we'd be making cars
like crazy. Civic leaders all warned that we shouldn't be so dependent on one
industry. "The Silicon Valley of the Midwest" was mentioned as early as I can
remember.

During bad times, the car plants would shut down. Civic leaders said that we
shouldn't be so dependent on one industry.

When things turned back around, we always went back to making cars like crazy.
And pieces of cars, etc. Civic leaders breathed a sigh of relief but warned
that we shouldn't be so dependent on one industry.

So, if Detroit is picking up right now, I'll wonder the same thing that I've
wondered before: Is it just because there is more demand for cars again, and
everything else is just a trickle down from making cars again, and pieces of
cars? Or is it something else?

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jasode
Paul Graham[1] and many others have covered the unique challenges in
recreating Silicon Valley elsewhere. It seems like the author didn't address
some obvious holes in Detroit that prevent it from becoming a world class
focal point instead of an outpost for a handful of companies.

[1]Some old PG essays about factors to create a "Silicon Valley":

2006:
[http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html)

2009:
[http://www.paulgraham.com/maybe.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/maybe.html)

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ColinCera
No it could not. Admittedly I only skimmed the article, but from what I can
tell you could say the same "civic booster club" kinds of things about 50
other cities in the Midwest. Lots of other cities also have some minor little
incubator activity going (which will never, ever make any of them the Silicon
Valley of anything, by the way), and almost all, or let's just go ahead and
say ALL, of those other cities are not nearly as much of a spiraling hell-hole
as Detroit. God bless them Detroiters for trying to keep hope alive, but… no.

~~~
ekux44
Agreed. For example:

Chicago has a much bigger tech sector, including satellite campuses of silicon
valley tech giants like Google.

Kansas City seems to have stronger entrepreneurial support, including being
home to the Kauffman Foundation and Google Fiber.

------
rmason
Can we stop comparing Detroit to other places?

I am in the city often and there are some damned interesting companies getting
created. I was born in Detroit and have watched it all my adult life, first as
it slid down hill and then the numerous attempts by well meaning people to
bring it back. Detroit finally has lots of forward momentum and I don't
believe the forward motion will stall anytime soon.

But Detroit will never become what it was in my youth. Richest city in the
world, best public big city school system in the United States. Heck the auto
industry will never be what it was back then either. But it can be a healthy
city with full employment, but its going to take time. It took fifty years to
hit rock bottom and at least that long to fully recover.

I tell college students that there is both risk and opportunity in Detroit. If
you want the safe choice it's probably not where you want to go. But if you
want to skip a few steps in your career rise along with a higher risk of
failure then it's one of the best places.

Forget the Silicon Valley comparisons. Lets Detroit be Detroit. Don't accept
the ruin porn pictures, check it out for yourself.

~~~
akehrer
> I tell college students that there is both risk and opportunity in Detroit.
> If you want the safe choice it's probably not where you want to go. But if
> you want to skip a few steps in your career rise along with a higher risk of
> failure then it's one of the best places.

I expressed this exact sentiment at a conference a year ago where the topic
was about keeping great talent here (Detroit/Michigan/Midwest) instead of
losing it to the coasts. Basically, you could go be a cog in the Google
machine, or you could stay here and drive something new to success. Of course
you're taking risks; big names missing on your resume, a six figure starting
salary, winter. There are benefits though; you get to set the culture, much
lower cost of living, and fall here is awesome.

With the bankruptcy in motion I think locals now feel that Detroit has finally
hit bottom and can now work its way back to something better. It's not going
to be the next Silicon Valley, but with the increased interest from younger
generations it's going to be something more than it has been in a while,
growing.

------
capkutay
I'm personally a huge fan of Chicago in the midwest. If I had to choose
anywhere other than the bay area, it would be chicago...if it weren't for the
weather!

~~~
sitkack
Chicago coud inflect. The housing price gradient is insane. Way more than
Detroit. You could make hundreds of millions by spending low millions to buy
entire neighborhoods and start incubators.

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nazca
You lost me at "Silicon Valley of X". They need to chart their own path.
Trying to recreate silicon valley is doomed for failure.

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scottaj2
Detroit is a great place (I live and work Downtown). It is definitely on an
upswing.

However, like other commenters have said calling it the "next Silicon Valley"
is a bit disingenuous. The whole regional economy is still very tied to
manufacturing (particularly automotive manufacturing). I don't see a drastic
change to technology or any other economic sector happening in the near
future. I work at a software consultancy in Detroit and almost every project I
have worked on has been tied to various parts of the auto industry.

I think other midwest cities like Chicago or even nearby Ann Arbor are much
further along the path of being "Silicone Valley-esque"

------
Igglyboo
If anyone is interested, Detroit Labs[1] is a SF statup-esque software
development company in Detroit. Not everything in Detroit is a shithole like
the news will have you believe, Quicken loans recently moved to the city and
brought a ton of jobs and their are some very nice areas of the city. I just
yesterday attended a hackathon[2] for the Detroit Public Library that had many
attendants.

[1] [http://www.detroitlabs.com/](http://www.detroitlabs.com/)

[2]
[http://www.automationalley.com/a2_nws_eventinfo?id=a08600000...](http://www.automationalley.com/a2_nws_eventinfo?id=a086000000N887qAAB)

~~~
joosebox
+1 for Detroit Labs. Coolest company in Detroit imo.

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todd8
I grew up delivering newspapers in these apartment buildings:
[https://www.google.com/maps/@42.399458,-83.092935,3a,75y,44....](https://www.google.com/maps/@42.399458,-83.092935,3a,75y,44.28h,92.82t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1su-
betwaKbcuC2ewimolH4w!2e0)

This is right on the main street into downtown. It's really sad.

~~~
joosebox
That is not downtown, though. Growing downtown and renovating the exterior
with whatever is inevitable. Have to start with downtown and grow. That is a
35 minute bus ride from downtown.

[https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Title+Source,+662+Woodward+A...](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Title+Source,+662+Woodward+Ave,+Detroit,+MI+48226/Classic+Cafe+Coney,+12857+Woodward+Ave,+Highland+Park,+MI+48203/@42.3682634,-83.1078027,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x883b2d2fefacee6f:0x833c0d010ea47507!2m2!1d-83.046046!2d42.331222!1m5!1m1!1s0x8824cd93086f648b:0x772a3f2e247af199!2m2!1d-83.093229!2d42.399565)

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icantthinkofone
In the film industry, you always hear about some other city being the next
Hollywood. The problem is, it's an industry, not a city. If you want to make
blockbuster movies, the entire area there is built around providing the
services to do all that. If you need a special, weird prop, they've got a guy
who has two of them or can make you one in an hour.

The same is true in Silicon Valley. You need some special coding or hardware,
they've got a whole subdivision of those guys on 24-hour call. No problem.

You don't find that in any other city for those two industries. You wouldn't
want to start a wheat operation in San Francisco but cause they don't have the
tools sitting in a store down the street with 10 farmers who know how to use
it. Go to Kansas, young man.

~~~
segmondy
You are wrong. The difference is that with the Tech industry you can reach
people without ever meeting them. The internet unites. With movie industry,
you need a stunt man in your face, you need actors in your face, light hands
in your face, etc. With software? Need a programmer that knows a special tool?
He could be in Mars and you can reach him. All you have to do is network,
networking can be done via Internet.

~~~
icantthinkofone
If I was wrong it wouldn't be true and Silicon Valley wouldn't exist today.

