Yeah my purely speculative, non scientific list goes like this:
1) The Bay Area (Silicon Valley + SF etc.) - Pretty much perpetually
2) NYC
3) Austin,Tx and Boston are tied
3.5) Chicago
4) Seattle, Boulder,Co ; and Los Angeles are tied
5) Any other major city with a good engineering school in the vicinity or other major money industry with that needs a few Computer Science and/or IT guys around (i.e. Oil)
A few cities like this include: Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Washington D.C., Miami, Kansas City (especially since Google Fiber is rolling out there), and Las Vegas
Just for info, I currently live in Austin. Almost moved to SF but just finished school and prefer the nightlife in Austin
Funny you mention Chicago. I'm there right now for a business trip, and decided I'd love to move here. I was wondering about the startup scene though...
I currently live in Long Beach, CA which is 30 mins south of LA, and it blows. There is a distinct lack of techies and nobody is working on solving interesting problems. Maybe it's different in LA proper though.
I don't think Chicago is a great place to move to in anticipation of finding a job at a startup. It is, on the other hand, a fantastic place to move to to start one.
I like the vibe of the city. There's a ton of interesting things to do, people pay attention to their appearance, and the architecture is awesome. Plus, it's not ultra-crowded like NYC, which makes real-estate affordable.
Boston and the surrounding area including southern New Hampshire. There is a mini tech boom happening there and the tax situation in NH is extremely good for startups. You also have access to a huge pool of talent from all of the surrounding schools in New England.
Good list, though I'd think that D.C. would rank higher considering it's supposed to be a huge (growing?) tech center. Or maybe those jobs are just for government.
1) The Bay Area (Silicon Valley + SF etc.) - Pretty much perpetually
2) NYC
3) Austin,Tx and Boston are tied
3.5) Chicago
4) Seattle, Boulder,Co ; and Los Angeles are tied
5) Any other major city with a good engineering school in the vicinity or other major money industry with that needs a few Computer Science and/or IT guys around (i.e. Oil)
A few cities like this include: Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Washington D.C., Miami, Kansas City (especially since Google Fiber is rolling out there), and Las Vegas
Just for info, I currently live in Austin. Almost moved to SF but just finished school and prefer the nightlife in Austin