Via Newgeography.com:
Silicon Valley has been well recognized as the nation’s hub of technology, having easily surpassed both Southern California and Massachusetts, but it’s now Seattle that may emerge as its greatest rival. Home to tech giants such as Microsoft and Amazon, Seattle has attracted creative and entrepreneurial talent, which has been the foundation to its low unemployment rate of 5.9% and continuous economic growth. Many former employees from Microsoft and Amazon have founded startups and small businesses in Seattle.
The primary reason for Seattle’s continuous expansion: the metro beats Silicon Valley in affordability on many different avenues.
Click the link to see more: Affordability: Seattle’s Ace in Becoming the Next Tech Capital | Newgeography.com
Points:
- “Increasing wages in Silicon Valley have been matched with skyrocketing housing prices in the Bay area, which has become one of the most expensive places to live in the nation.”
- “Seattle’s lower office rent and expanding office space development also have made Seattle become an appealing alternative to Silicon Valley.”
- “Washington also has no income tax and offers a plethora of tax incentives to high tech companies.”
- “Seattle could be highly appealing for tech companies and individual entrepreneurs simply because the cost of living is cheaper.”
- “Washington also has the fourth lowest electricity prices in the nation, another major incentive for tech companies.”
- “…unlike Silicon Valley, Seattle’s economy also rests on a healthy composition of many different established industries.”