The decline of east coast tech
Adam Healey writes Charlottesville Needs More Nerds:
For some reason, there are just not a lot of startups being created here. On this mashup by fourio, web 2.0 start-ups are mapped globally. There are none, until now, in Charlottesville. Why is that? Simple. Charlottesville needs more nerds. UVA’s graduate engineering school is ranked 37th nationally. Ouch. There’s the problem right there.
Colin Steele echos the concern:
As CTO, I seem to be getting the recurring question, “Can you (hotelicopter) find the tech-savvy talent you need in Charlottesville?” It’s a valid question. Long gone are the days of Kesmai, EA, Mr. Goodbucks, and the beloved Value America. These days, we have influx of spooks, a smattering of biotech companies, and in the IT/Internet world… a whole buncha nothin’.
To me, the issue seems related to the decline of New York during this last decade. I mean, hell, if even New York was in decline, then what chance did Charlottesville have? The simple fact was that a lot of the tech industry was consolidating into Silicon Valley (or moving off shore). But if it is true that New York is set for a rebound, then perhaps other east coast locales will also see their fortunes improve.