Theme: Ironic demographics
Subject Article: "Las Vegas may be missing key aspects to attracting investors."
Other Links: 1. "Spare a thought for Silicon Valley’s rust belt: More cost-cutting to come at suppliers of corporate technology."
2. "Did Robots Save Pittsburgh?"
3. "Cities make use of legacy assets."
4. "San Francisco’s Detroit Moment."
5. "Wall Street to shift more staff out of pricey cities."
6. "The New Geography of Jobs."
7. "The slow death of Silicon Roundabout: Scattering Shoreditch's startups to the winds may not kill them all – but the creative energy that inspired them has gone."
Postscript: I could have done a post on Other Link #7. That story is about the gentrification of the start-up culture from Silicon Roundabout. The ironic gentrifiers, international students:
But in 2010, the council started approving the demolition of these buildings and their replacement with high-rise, commercial student housing that targets wealthy overseas students. The first major development inaugurated a welcome new alleyway that connected a former dead-end with East Road, with an unironic official street sign that read "Silicon Way".
The complaint is audacious in its naked xenophobia, much in the same way Spike Lee's complaints about the gentrification of his Brooklyn were.Still, what a fascinating indicator of the power of the Legacy Economy. London real estate is dear. Housing of international students rates as a good return on investment. Higher education is pushing out tech innovation from the urban core.
3 comments:
Regarding the student population of London gentrifying out the tech folks, would the rather large number of university's in London (the LSE, Imperial, UCL, Kings's-London, Queen Mary, et. al.)not make London a "talent producer"? Is this simply offset by the extreme expense of the place? Maybe Birmingham and Newcastle can be England's Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
London is definitely a talent producer as well as talent refinery. Furthermore, beyond Cambridge and Oxford, London is the brand selling British higher education to the world.
Regarding the cost of living factor, doesn't necessarily mean the end is nigh for London. In fact, London should continue to dominate the urban hierarchy.
High prices will continue to push out lots of talent and businesses. Manchester seems to be benefiting from those refugees. I'm sure other cities are, too.
Cincinnati and St. Louis have more and faster growing college graduate populations than Cleveland that you suggest will benefit from economic "convergence."
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