Which city is the 'Southern Silicon Valley?' Birmingham or Huntsville? (Montgomery: military, vs.)

[cherokee48]

https://www.al.com/business/index.ss...thern_sil.html

The much maligned (deservedly so) al.com had an interesting article on it's site today concerning the rise of Birmingham and Huntsville recently in tech and in stature in impact in the state. I was mostly in agreement with the writer's assessment and found the article nuanced and balanced. My overall takeaway is that Birmingham and Huntsville are the leaders of tech in Alabama (and if one had to choose as the clear leader for the state as did the writer it would be Birmingham, and that is saying something considering where Birmingham was in 2000 or 2005 in tech compared to Huntsville) and the clear leaders of the state going forward.

[MinivanDriver]

I think it's an apples-vs-oranges debate because the two cities operate in two completely different economic arenas. I do think Huntsville, by default, has had the edge due to the military and space program. However, it has been a decided priority for Birmingham over the past 15 years and is beginning to pay off.

[cherokee48]

I totally agree here, economically the GDP numbers are way too much to overlook for this not to be an obvious apples to oranges comparison. Birmingham's GDP being more than Huntsville, Mobile, and Montgomery combined show how vastly different the economic arenas of Birmingham and Huntsville are. It is good to see this start to pay off for Birmingham it has indeed been a lot of time and effort put into preparing for a new type of economy.

[steveklein]

Neither is the "Silicon Valley of the south". Several other metro areas have tech scenes far stronger than either Birmingham or Huntsville.

Huntsville is probably closer, given its percentage of residents in the fields of technology and engineering. But comparing either, even on a small scale, to Silicon Valley is comical.

It would be akin to calling Minneapolis the Miami of the north because there is water nearby.

Does Birmingham even employ the national average per capita for tech? I doubt it. Seems like you might want to be in the top half before you compare yourself to #1.

[TimCity2000]

Sometimes I wonder if these al.com writers get their storylines from this very forum haha.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by steveklein

Neither is the "Silicon Valley of the south". Several other metro areas have tech scenes far stronger than either Birmingham or Huntsville.

Huntsville is probably closer, given its percentage of residents in the fields of technology and engineering. But comparing either, even on a small scale, to Silicon Valley is comical.

It would be akin to calling Minneapolis the Miami of the north because there is water nearby.

Does Birmingham even employ the national average per capita for tech? I doubt it. Seems like you might want to be in the top half before you compare yourself to #1.

I agree. The "Silicon Valley of the South" is Austin, Texas, and by a huge margin. They are tech developers, not just tech users. And yes, comparing either Huntsville or B'ham to the Silicon Valley is really comical.

Regarding another post ... of course the B'ham area has the highest GDP in the state ... they are the largest and have been for well over 100 years. Some reasons are the central location, and the logistical ease of getting there by vehicle from virtually anywhere. But the GDP is also irrelevant to being the "tech capital".

[cherokee48]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

Sometimes I wonder if these al.com writers get their storylines from this very forum haha.

Seeing this headline I was wondering the same thing lol

[Justin Scott]

If I surveyed people in California, Huntsville would win. Birmingham is probably more “homegrown” though.

[cherokee48]

Originally Posted by steveklein

Neither is the "Silicon Valley of the south". Several other metro areas have tech scenes far stronger than either Birmingham or Huntsville.

Huntsville is probably closer, given its percentage of residents in the fields of technology and engineering. But comparing either, even on a small scale, to Silicon Valley is comical.

It would be akin to calling Minneapolis the Miami of the north because there is water nearby.

Does Birmingham even employ the national average per capita for tech? I doubt it. Seems like you might want to be in the top half before you compare yourself to #1.

The real Silicon Valley truly has no equal at this stage and the "Silicon Valley of the South" moniker is more of a figure of speech for a tech area. According to the author the GDP of the area is larger than that of Saudi Arabia, and their population figures for that metro (San Jose) are nearly the size of Alabama. That's truly an apples to oranges comparison for almost anybody.

That being said I don't mind the comparison and see it as a sign of progress. I would like some of the local media to make more comparisons with Austin as well and examine their growth strategies as well, I think we have a lot more in common with them than Silicon Valley and can learn from that experience. I do side with the author with Birmingham having the edge due to the startup culture and UAB's growing presence. To come from having virtually no tech in the early 2000's other than UAB's biotech (hopes at that time) to the forefront of tech in Alabama and the South is commendable.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by cherokee48

The real Silicon Valley truly has no equal at this stage and the "Silicon Valley of the South" moniker is more of a figure of speech for a tech area. According to the author the GDP of the area is larger than that of Saudi Arabia, and their population figures for that metro (San Jose) are nearly the size of Alabama. That's truly an apples to oranges comparison for almost anybody.

That being said I don't mind the comparison and see it as a sign of progress. I would like some of the local media to make more comparisons with Austin as well and examine their growth strategies as well, I think we have a lot more in common with them than Silicon Valley and can learn from that experience. I do side with the author with Birmingham having the edge due to the startup culture and UAB's growing presence. To come from having virtually no tech in the early 2000's other than UAB's biotech (hopes at that time) to the forefront of tech in Alabama and the South is commendable.

Probably long term, Birmingham will enjoy more growth in the tech sector for a number of reasons: 1) More significant entrepreneurial culture; 2) Access to more sources of capital; and 3) UAB vs. UAH. Mind you, this is not a slam on Huntsville.