Code Space

Why tech should find some new homes.

- Clive Thompson

Lately I’ve been hearing complaints from my techie friends about San Francisco. Sure, the city is a mecca for anyone who wants to build a startup—with ample capital, helpful angels, and some of the best software talent on the planet.

But it’s becoming a monoculture. “You go to dinner and tech is literally all people talk about: tech, tech, tech,” sighs my friend David Silva, an engineer who lived in San Francisco for five years before decamping for the East Coast. Tech has crowded out other subjects of conversation.

That, I’d argue, is a good reason to break the region’s lock on software development. Different cities have different moods and obsessions. Spreading the creation of software to other parts of the country doesn’t just expand economic opportunity, it also encourages other ideas.

As Accel venture capitalist Vas Natarajan puts it to me, “You can think of a city as a platform.” And each new platform opens up the possibility space.