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New Haven seems to be ahead in the race for tech companies. Worcester also has made an investment. Reading the article I particularly like the fact that their will be a dock for kayaking on the Mill River. A nice perk for the techies who will be hired for the new jobs.
New Haven seems to be ahead in the race for tech companies. Worcester also has made an investment. Reading the article I particularly like the fact that their will be a dock for kayaking on the Mill River. A nice perk for the techies who will be hired for the new jobs.
¡Gina!, in spite of her shortcoming , knows how to spread money around and she's not afraid of making a good bet. I trust she knows exactly how to score new jobs, what it will take in incentives, and how many quality jobs she can reasonable expect to reap. And she's tremendously connected, right up to the next prezzie, Hillary. So in this respect, and maybe a couple of others that could really help the state, I think we are very well served by ¡Gina's! efforts.
Yes yes yes, she's a bit authoritarian,, too secretive, not good with people, loves screwing over state workers and lacks a laudable, commendable personal style that might remind one of, say, oh, I don't know, Jackie? But she's a damned smart woman and she means business.
The way tech works, you need to achieve critical mass of qualified workers in a commutable distance. Most tech workers won't sell their house in a high COL tech area to relocate to the tech wasteland for a risky startup. If something bad happens and that's the 70% or higher outcome, they have to move again and it's really tough to move back to a high COL region once you've left.
I think that Rhode Island has a far better shot at growing tech jobs than New Haven. There are already a ton of qualified workers living on the 495 belt who can commute to a tech job in the northeastern quarter of the state. As you grow that region, it then becomes possible to locate tech in other parts of the state.
^New Haven has some of the same obvious advantages that Providence does (ivy league universities in town, Northeast Corridor, proximity to a major metro area, etc.). Most of Fairfield County is within commuting distance (with much better public transit connections) to New Haven. I'll grant you that much of the 495 belt is a bit closer to Providence than a good chunk of Fairfield County is to New Haven, but at 1 hour from Greenwich to New Haven (reverse commuting which is nice), it's still a better commute than many in Fairfield County already endure to New York.
^New Haven has some of the same obvious advantages that Providence does (ivy league universities in town, Northeast Corridor, proximity to a major metro area, etc.). Most of Fairfield County is within commuting distance (with much better public transit connections) to New Haven. I'll grant you that much of the 495 belt is a bit closer to Providence than a good chunk of Fairfield County is to New Haven, but at 1 hour from Greenwich to New Haven (reverse commuting which is nice), it's still a better commute than many in Fairfield County already endure to New York.
People don't graduate from Yale and buy a house in New Haven. It's a hell hole beyond the Yale campus and everyone flees the moment they graduate. Have you ever taken Amtrak from New Haven to Manhattan? Have you ever driven on I-95 or the Merritt during rush hour. New Haven might as well be Buffalo if you work in Manhattan where all the jobs are. It's almost as bad if your job is in Stamford.
People don't graduate from Yale and buy a house in New Haven. It's a hell hole beyond the Yale campus and everyone flees the moment they graduate. Have you ever taken Amtrak from New Haven to Manhattan? Have you ever driven on I-95 or the Merritt during rush hour. New Haven might as well be Buffalo if you work in Manhattan where all the jobs are. It's almost as bad if your job is in Stamford.
If you're in Manhattan? Sure. It's a hike. But if you already live in the SW CT suburbs and are commuting to Manhattan, a reverse commute to New Haven isn't so bad. In fact, it's quite a bit better. Fairfield County, the most affluent in Connecticut, is right next door with around 1,000,000 people. New Haven has its own share of affluent suburbs, and Hartford's more affluent suburbs are only 40 miles away. I would still argue that New Haven has better access to a "qualified workforce" than Providence. At least a larger one. And while agree with you on all counts regarding the New Haven-Manhattan commute, a reverse commute along that route is a hell of a lot better. I've taken MNRR from New Haven to Grand Central Terminal plenty. It's a pain. But from Stamford to New Haven isn't bad at all (better than MBTA from Boston to Providence- especially in terms of schedule).
I definitely agree that Providence is more livable. Connecticut has a staggeringly divided populous with exceptionally wealthy towns right next to awful cities. Providence certainly wins on that count. But New Haven has good bones. It also has a pretty active (in terms of workforce) downtown area with good transit connections (I'd take NH Union over Providence any day). It's not an economic void, and it's not without access to an educated, qualified workforce.
The way tech works, you need to achieve critical mass of qualified workers in a commutable distance. Most tech workers won't sell their house in a high COL tech area to relocate to the tech wasteland for a risky startup. If something bad happens and that's the 70% or higher outcome, they have to move again and it's really tough to move back to a high COL region once you've left.
I think that Rhode Island has a far better shot at growing tech jobs than New Haven. There are already a ton of qualified workers living on the 495 belt who can commute to a tech job in the northeastern quarter of the state. As you grow that region, it then becomes possible to locate tech in other parts of the state.
That's a great point. But tech centers have to start somewhere, right? And they don't started with 50,000 FTEs descending one fine day onto Seattle to work for a startup called "Amazon." The only disconnect I see in your thinking is actually more of a collision with conventional wisdom that there would be synergies between high-cost BOS and lower-cost PVD area. Has that happened? Is there a dynamic at play between the two cities, one admittedly much larger than ours that would positively impact companies locating here? Or is the distance/culture/size just too vast for this relationship to exist?
That's a great point. But tech centers have to start somewhere, right? And they don't started with 50,000 FTEs descending one fine day onto Seattle to work for a startup called "Amazon." The only disconnect I see in your thinking is actually more of a collision with conventional wisdom that there would be synergies between high-cost BOS and lower-cost PVD area. Has that happened? Is there a dynamic at play between the two cities, one admittedly much larger than ours that would positively impact companies locating here? Or is the distance/culture/size just too vast for this relationship to exist?
Tech centers are usually anchored by multiple elite universities. Stanford/UCB. Harvard/MIT. NYC tri-state with big pharma. One Ivy doesn't get you to critical mass. You're never going to see Hanover, NH or Ithaca, NY as a tech center any more than you'd see New Haven. Philly has the same problem. Research Triangle Park never quite got there despite Duke, the low tax/cheap real estate climate, and all the state money. Providence is at least close enough to the metro-Boston tech center to have a shot at it.
DC has the infinite government money so it's a special case. Seattle had the dumb luck of Bill Gates. Chicago should do better.
I suppose this won't be popular in a Rhode Island forum but I view Providence as being an edge city for Boston just like Worcester though a way better city than Worcester. If the NIMBY people hadn't killed the I-95 Southwest Corridor project years ago, we'd have a 10 lane superhighway connecting them and Providence would be booming. With only the Southeast Expressway, Providence might as well be on the moon if you're sitting in Kendall Square. Yeah, there's the Red Line and Amtrak but you also need to be able to drive it and it's not like it's easy to get to and from the Providence Amtrak station.
I'll take you at your word that this ghastly ten lane highway was needed as I have no knowledge of it. But we can't go back and and we can't wish it were otherwise. What we can do is maximize what we have and a great place to start would be really pumping-up commuter rail between BOS and PVD. But, in my heart I think you're right -- PVD will be what it is, perhaps a little better, maybe a little worse, but a world player? Even a regional force? Probably not to be. It's still a wonderful place to live and work and I for one am delighted to be here.
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, knows how to spread money around and she's not afraid of making a good bet. I trust she knows exactly how to score new jobs, what it will take in incentives, and how many quality jobs she can reasonable expect to reap. And she's tremendously connected, right up to the next prezzie, Hillary. So in this respect, and maybe a couple of others that could really help the state, I think we are very well served by ¡Gina's! efforts.
