Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think the Bay Area is actually far more important than many people believe. While its economy might not be as large as those Chicago or Los Angeles, the Bay Area is currently a far larger driver of innovation in numerous fields than either city and possibly of any other place in the world. The research institutions there aren't confined to just Stanford, Berkeley, and UCSF (though these are incredibly significant on their own), but also due to the incredible pool of talent that gets funded through venture capital throughout the Bay Area (Silicon Valley, of course, but other parts of the area, too). Additionally, there is a huge amount of government funding being poured into the various US national laboratories (by far the largest concentration of them) within the area.
So... this wonderful threesome of academia, government, and private ventures is constantly cross-pollinating and bringing to fruition an incredible body of knowledge and applications the likes of which are unparalleled in the rest of the US. These are not ephemeral, local nerdball innovations, but ones that have deep and diverse repercussions well beyond their original design specs. However, the impact these innovations made are far outside of the Bay Area so it doesn't really register completely in terms of its gross product. Case in point right now are the civil unrests that have or are currently happening in Iran (albeit quashed), Tunisia, and Egypt whose main rallying forces relied on twitter and facebook which are just two of many Bay Area companies.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 01-30-2011 at 06:24 PM..
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 16,049,308 times
Reputation: 4047
Yes & No.
Yes that it is. No because its tied with DMV for the 2nd place spot. OyCrumbler and others on this board already know my argument for it ahead of Chicago & Los Angeles. So I'll save myself the time of posting long posts haha.
But yes, it is the 2nd most important Metropolitan Area in the country, however, its tied with DMV for the 2nd place spot. And I agree, I also love this topic!
No. DC and Chicago are better, more historic and interesting. I prefer Boston and Philadelphia to the Bay Area as well, though that's a closer call. The Bay Area has terrific scenery though. That's it's strongest point.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 01-30-2011 at 06:27 PM..
My family has lived in both Chicago and San Francisco, and for them I think they like San Francisco more for their personal likes and needs, but they don't think San Francisco is BETTER than Chicago overall, I don't think. It's a pretty great area though -- no doubt!!
Yea, by GDP and population. In terms of its overall effect on the world though?
I dont see how though, SF isnt a larger financial center than NYC, Chicago, and Boston. It doesnt have the government like DC, it doesnt have trade on lock like Chicago, and it doesnt have the film industry like LA.
Apple, Google, etc are nice and all but hardly what it takes to out do the others because they are privately owned enterprises, their output fluctuate and anyone can create their standard and replicate that technology, IMO
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
