It's Settled: Silicon Valley Is Dying. So What's Next?

Re:It's Settled: Silicon Valley Is Dying. So What's Next? by norswap on Wednesday February 05, 2014 @10:08AM (#7184098)

I wouldn't be surprised to see Detroit & co rise again, if only because of the dirt cheap price of housing.

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Re:It's Settled: Silicon Valley Is Dying. So What's Next? by fidotron on Wednesday February 05, 2014 @10:29AM (#7184233)

I would, because the infrastructure is crumbling, the tax base to fix it is non-existent, and the bureaucracy running the city is overbearing and corrupt. Detroit is still in the early stages of a death spiral, and it would take something mind bendingly huge to snap out of it.

Detroit is going to stand as the lesson to all cities in North America.

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Re:It's Settled: Silicon Valley Is Dying. So What's Next? by freehunter on Wednesday February 05, 2014 @11:13AM (#7184543)

Mind-bendingly huge like the mayor forcibly removing the elected city officials and installing emergency city managers to cut down on the corruption and bureaucracy? Mind-bendingly huge like the largest US city to ever successfully declare bankruptcy ($18.5 billion in debt)?

Because that's what happened. Now we wait to see if it works.

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Re:It's Settled: Silicon Valley Is Dying. So What's Next? by techsupporter on Wednesday February 05, 2014 @11:18AM (#7184583)

> the mayor forcibly removing the elected city officials and installing emergency city managers

The Detroit emergency financial manager was appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Scott against the loud and outspoken wishes of the citizens and elected officials of the City of Detroit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/us/michigan-appoints-emerg...

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Re:It's Settled: Silicon Valley Is Dying. So What's Next? by freehunter on Wednesday February 05, 2014 @01:33PM (#7185718)

Rick Snyder, and I'm not sure if you're trying to say something beyond what I was saying.

edit - sorry, I guess I wrote mayor instead of governor. Thanks for the correction.

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Re:It's Settled: Silicon Valley Is Dying. So What's Next? by Xdes on Wednesday February 05, 2014 @11:12AM (#7184536)

Detroit isn't going anywhere. The residential community may be on the decline, but the business community is thriving and private interests are investing in the infrastructure themselves. The business community doesn't need to rely on the city for infrastructure when there is plenty of capital available to invest directly versus waiting on the corrupt bureaucracy.

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Re:It's Settled: Silicon Valley Is Dying. So What's Next? by fidotron on Wednesday February 05, 2014 @11:54AM (#7184866)

Right, but if I were investing in downtown Detroit I'd be wary of the fact that bureaucracy still hasn't been burned to the ground, and if your business succeeds they will leech off it as much as possible.

Detroit unquestionably needs greater amounts of private investment, but the governance has been so bad that it is a significant risk factor. Combine that with the widespread crime and anti-gentrification sentiments that would exist if you tried to do something about it, and it looks difficult.

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Re:It's Settled: Silicon Valley Is Dying. So What's Next? by username317 on Wednesday February 05, 2014 @10:01PM (#7188459)

It looks like the plan in Detroit may be to bring in a lot of EB-2 visas. I'm not sure how I feel about this. It would be great to bring more people to the area, but also there would be more competition for tech jobs.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/23/us-usa-detroit-imm...

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