Monday, June 01, 2015

The New Geography of Jobs: Talent Production Versus Knowledge Production

Pittsburgh is the best place in the United States to flip property. What explains the real estate boom?

Theme: Geography of innovation

Subject Article: "Carnegie Mellon Reels After Uber Lures Away Researchers."

Other Links: 1. "Pittsburgh becoming 'flip' city as real estate market heats up."
2. "From Metals to Minds: Economic Restructuring in the Rust Belt."
3. "The New Geography of Innovation."
4. "Do Jobs Follow People or Do People Follow Jobs?"
5. "Rust Belt Chic: Harvey Pekar."

Postscript: If you get a chance, do read The WSJ article about Uber poaching talent from CMU. I think a new economic geography is developing before our eyes. Explaining the real estate boom:

Pittsburgh missed the national housing boom of the early to mid-2000s, being a region where property values in many communities have either remained flat or grew at a snail’s pace. Historically, residents here also were less inclined to relocate from one house to another.

But in recent years, many neighborhoods throughout the city such as Lawrenceville have seen housing values appreciate by double digits as demand has been driven up by workers in medical, technology and the oil and gas industries, and as investors have swooped in to take advantage of the low prices and the high demand.

A lot of gentrification is amenity driven, and thus ephemeral. The gentrification of Pittsburgh neighborhoods is driven primarily by economic restructuring. Wages from global jobs are pouring into the city.

No comments: