IP: Re: Stories on future of Silicon Valley. (Must reading)

[Dave Farber <farber@central.cis.upenn.edu>]

Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 19:42:56 -0400
To: Dave Farber <farber@central.cis.upenn.edu>
From: rjs@rpcp.mit.edu (Richard Jay Solomon)


It might be worth re-visiting the data, but many moons ago when I was an
urban planner the surveys done were pretty consistent about why white
collar workers chose where they lived:


1) (and this was far more important than any other factor) was achools for
their kids. Of course, if more and more professionals don't have children,
then skip this.


2) was affordable housing. Of course, if your employer picks up the bill
for the house, then skip this one, too.


3) was climate, noise, scenery, etc.


way down the list was commuting time to work, Except for New Yorkers (who
are known to be out of their minds, anyway), this was 20-30 minutes max.,
assuming 1) and 2) were satisfactorily met. Oddly enough, 20-30 minutes was
what some proto-sociologists found was the norm for farmers in Germany in
the mid-19th Century. Maybe 20-30 min. in cybertimes means warming up the
PC, reading the SJ Mercury, whatever.


and if you were married, your spouse's job, mother-in-law distance,
siblings, might actually count in choice of housing.


Jean Gottman, who wrote "Megapolis" and died just as the Arpanet got
started, told me once that Daniel Bell's work convinced him that the 21st
Century would see major jobs migrating to the watering-spots of the world.
That could be Point Barrow, Alaska or Capri, depending on your watering
tastes, but he was sure it wouldn't be Megalopolis. If you don't know who
Gottman or Bell were, you need to do a lot of homework.


THere may be some bearing here on where firms locate in the future.


Richard