
New York City could be the new tech mecca, thanks to Google - bjonathan
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/12/06/am-new-york-city-could-be-the-new-tech-mecca-thanks-to-google-/
======
Bostwick
I think this article shows how removed a lot of journalists and media are from
the technology scene.

They completely ignore the growing startup scene in New York - Silicon Alley,
Digital Dumbo[1] - and latch on instead to a story about a huge, already
established company that's buying a building they already have 2000+ employees
in.

Tech meccas are born from hundreds of small technology companies constantly
pushing the limits of a platform, not from the presence of a single, large
employer.

[1] <http://www.digitaldumbo.com/about/>

~~~
wriq
"Tech meccas are born from hundreds of small technology companies constantly
pushing the limits of a platform, not from the presence of a single, large
employer."

I would think having a few large tech companies in an area would aid in the
creation of smaller ones.

~~~
jimboyoungblood
I think you have it backwards.

~~~
t_zz
How is that backward? People from large companies do quit to create start-ups,
and it usually happen in the same city/circles.

~~~
jimboyoungblood
There are many places where there are large tech companies but few startups.
That's because the people who quit to do startups go to the Bay Area, which
has a lot more to offer little companies.

For instance, there are a _lot_ of ex-Amazon employees doing startups in SF
now. There's a reason they left Seattle, and it's not entirely due to the
crappy weather.

~~~
nostrademons
The large tech companies are a big part of the Bay Area startup ecosystem,
though. Both as training grounds for future entrepreneurs, and as potential
acquirers with lots of cash, and as research shops that create the fundamental
technologies that entrepreneurs exploit.

Necessary but not sufficient conditions. A bunch of big companies by
themselves do not make a viable startup ecosystem. A startup ecosystem without
the big companies won't get off the ground, though.

------
brown9-2
Considering that Google already has ~2000 employees in this building, then by
this logic shouldn't they have already turned NYC into a "tech mecca"? This is
silly.

 _Anton says once Google buys the building, businesses will clamor to get in,
if only for a chance to make that elevator pitch to CEO Eric Schmidt_

Quite a bit of hyperbole here. The building already has lots of big companies
as tenants <http://www.111eighth.com/>

------
MrMan
I have servers at that location, but why would I ever go there? To interact
with the handful of ad sales staff? To visit my rack?

~~~
jonnii
But it's google! They might buy your company and make you rich beyond your
wildest dreams!

~~~
djjose
I dunno, my dreams are pretty wild.

~~~
rbanffy
I was complaining this morning supervillains no longer recruit scientists and
fly them to paradisaic tropical islands...

~~~
hugh3
It's worth noting that with the exception of the National University of
Singapore, there's virtually no worthwhile research done in the whole of the
tropics. Cold climates seem to be far more conducive to scientific
productivity.

~~~
rbanffy
That's the point. A supervillain would want the research to remain secret, at
least until the world domination plans are well under way. What better place
to hide a top-notch science facility than a remote island nobody would
suspect?

Preferably one with a volcano, because geothermal is so hot these days.

------
hugh3
Why would New York City want to be a "new tech mecca", anyway? They're already
the de facto US and/or world headquarters for several huge industries, and the
competition for scarce office and employee living space has already pushed
prices to insane levels. Why would they want to throw another more-money-than-
sense industry into the mix?

~~~
jobeirne
Why wouldn't NYC want to be a ``new tech mecca''?

If the city wised up and killed rent control, ``scarce office and employee
living space'' wouldn't be an issue.

~~~
siculars
I would strongly disagree with that. Rent control is an absolutely necessity
for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.

~~~
hugh3
Sure. The point being that if it were taken away they'd no longer be New
Yorkers -- they'd move to somewhere more reasonable for their income. The
employment market would adjust.

What would happen if only rich people could afford to live in New York? Gee, I
dunno, probably about the same thing that happens when only rich people can
afford to live in Beverly Hills.

~~~
rbranson
Comparing NYC to Beverly Hills is apples and oranges. The only likeness they
share is, perhaps, that they are both independent municipalities.

Exhibit A, NYC: The most populous city in the US with the highest density and
having the highest economic output. It is considered the world capital for
finance and is a world cultural center for fashion, media, art, theater, food,
and music. More people live in the city limits of NYC than 40 of the 52
states.

Exhibit B, Beverly Hills: An affluent bedroom community with around 30,000
residents and a suburb of Los Angeles.

~~~
hugh3
Of course, they're very unlike each other. I'm just not convinced by the idea
that a city needs poor (both in income and in quality) people in order to
function.

The low-paid jobs which _do_ need to be done in Manhattan can easily be done
by people commuting in from New Jersey.

I'm actually not sure about the outer boroughs, I've never actually been there
(that sounds snobbier than it is, I've only been to NYC twice). It seems to me
that gentrifying the outer boroughs should be one of the great challenges
facing New York City.

~~~
rbranson
Low, middle, and high-income people alike already DO commute from outside the
city. The NYC metro area has extensive and expensive transit infrastructure
that is constantly expanding. Cost of construction and infrastructure
increases with density in a super linear fashion.

------
T_S_
I moved from NY to SV this year. NYC is great but it is so large that the tech
scene gets diluted by all the other industries. The suburbs are a tech
wasteland (fine for other purposes I suppose).

That said, the banks there have very large development teams, but it's all in
the service of banking and trading. I've been there, done that; so I could be
biased. Overall, the vibe is very un-tech--unless you think algo trading is
the tech's ultimate expression.

------
rbanffy
You mean there will be a small building in the middle of a large square
housing a black... technological marvel?

