tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post1932347421143971646..comments2023-10-27T03:16:03.213-04:00Comments on Burgh Diaspora: Job Growth PittsburghJim Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13078184665418828961noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-87477539165586135292011-10-04T17:56:00.697-04:002011-10-04T17:56:00.697-04:00My comments on Portland were limited to the tech i...My comments on Portland were limited to the tech industry that the report covered. That said many of the problems keeping Portland from developing a robust tech industry apply to Portland apply to other industries in Portland and the city in general.<br /><br />When you think of the tech industry in Portland what do you think of? Companies from elsewhere who have branch offices and facilities there. That's it. That's not only different from places like Silicon Valley or Boston, but it's also very different than Pittsburgh. When you think of the tech industry in PGH you think of robotics, CMU, and many other things. You can't come up with the same for Portland.<br /><br />All major tech industry areas have a premier university involved with tech. SV has Stanford. Boston has MIT. Pittsburgh has CMU. The only exception to this is the DC area which was the result of the existence of the federal government. Portland does not have a Stanford, MIT, or CMU. The only way I could see that changing is if the Oregon Institute of Technology, for example, moved from Southern Oregon to Portland. That has an almost zero chance if happening.<br /><br />Even things that should expand the Portland tech industry don't. Over the last several years there has been a data center building craze. A lot of it ended up wherever there was cheap power. Quite a few of these data centers ended up within a hundred or two hundred miles of Portland in rural places like The Dalles but not anywhere near Portland. There was no benefit to putting these data centers anywhere near Portland which wouldn't be the case if Portland was able to have more of a tech industry. <br /><br />Lastly there is the problem of critical mass. When moving to a place to take a job there is the question of what about the next job. I know of companies in nontraditional areas for tech but they have recruiting problems since the appropriate professionals they want to hire realize that moving to work for such a company means you are no longer a local candidate for other jobs. If you live in SV or even PGH switching jobs without moving is much easier. Portland doesn't have enough tech jobs for a lot of tech professionals to move there. Thus tech companies won't open offices in Portland. It a cycle hard to get out of. Having a major tech university would help solve that problem but Portland doesn't have that.<br /><br />Light rail and "being cool" doesn't bring in jobs and businesses and certainly not the tech industry despite what Richard Florida says. Portland needs assets it doesn't have to bring in the tech industry so barring a miracle it's not going to happen in Portland.Stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-23844374494553707962011-10-03T09:51:40.909-04:002011-10-03T09:51:40.909-04:00Steve,
I am interested to learn more about your a...Steve,<br /><br />I am interested to learn more about your assessment of Portland. What weaknesses do you see holding that metro back?Jim Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13078184665418828961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-81595197888466494332011-10-02T21:09:40.050-04:002011-10-02T21:09:40.050-04:00I haven't had a chance to real the full report...I haven't had a chance to real the full report yet, but there are some things I'm not sure of in this report but I don't think they matter from the Pittsburgh perspective.<br /><br />I'm surprised the DC area was considered an emerging tech area instead of an already established one. Part of that may have been how the report separated DC and Baltimore which should not be considered separately. The summary for Baltimore had no examples that were truly Baltimore centric. All of them were really extensions of the DC tech industry that happened to be located in greater Baltimore, typically around Ft. Meade or Columbia.<br /><br />Portland may technically qualify as an "emerging" market but for various reasons I can't see it going anywhere. Portland has too many weaknesses.Stevenoreply@blogger.com