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Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

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Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#61

Post by [deleted] »

brianculler wrote: post #60
sanjayparekh wrote: post #47

I probably shouldn't chime in but since my name was brought up a couple of times I feel compelled. Yeah, I'm Indian. Yeah I'm American too (born and raised in Kentucky). Is there prejudice in the world? Yeah, sure. Have I experienced prejudice/racism? Of course - and not just in Georgia or Kentucky but all over the world. Does it matter one bit (at least to me)? Nope. Anyone that shows prejudice (based on race or oth…

What I find the most ridiculous about the comments in this thread about the "prejudice" people have experienced in Atlanta is that the prejudice cited was coming from places like... people on marta trains. Really? What people on a subway say to you has a bearing on a startup? If we're going to have a discussion about having a startup in Atlanta, we should be evaluating the racism and prejudice that exists within the…

[deleted]

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#62

Post by jacoblyles »

ajju wrote: post #42
lacker wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sub-culture of technology startups is dominated by white males. Minorities are not represented at the same proportion of their general population percentages anywhere in the country. I think this misses the point. In Silicon Valley, several minority populations are well-represented in the startup community. In particular, many startups are started by Asians and by people born outside the U.S. These groups are muc…

In Atlanta in particular this is not true. Two of the most successful companies started in Atlanta: CipherTrust and Manhattan Associates (although you may not think of the latter as a startup now) were started by Indians. I personally know of several other "very likely" to be successful startups started by minorities. If you read news about Startup Riot on the front page of HN in the past week, it is run by Sanjay Pa…

I believe that the Atlanta area contains two of the ten gayest counties in America. Atlanta is definitely hipper and more tolerant than the rest of Georgia. People shouldn't judge it until they give it a visit.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#63

Post by rms »

jacoblyles wrote: post #62
ajju wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Atlanta in particular this is not true. Two of the most successful companies started in Atlanta: CipherTrust and Manhattan Associates (although you may not think of the latter as a startup now) were started by Indians. I personally know of several other "very likely" to be successful startups started by minorities. If you read news about Startup Riot on the front page of HN in the past week, it is run by Sanjay Pa…

I believe that the Atlanta area contains two of the ten gayest counties in America. Atlanta is definitely hipper and more tolerant than the rest of Georgia. People shouldn't judge it until they give it a visit.

Very off (or counter, perhaps)-topic, but you just reminded me of this clip from the great Sacha Baron Cohen.

"So that's why I've come to the gayest part of America: Alabama!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnB5vqObkLw

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#64

Post by chaostheory »

Having lived in the ATL for about 8 years and the Bay Area for 5, I'd have to strongly disagree with one of the article's points:

"1) Do you have good weather?"

Atlanta does not have good weather. It is either really cold or really hot. It is nothing like the Bay Area's year round temperate weather.

During the fall and winter, Atlanta is typically gloomy and overcast almost every day. It's cold enough to ice too... I still remember feeling stupid for not wearing ear muffs or a hood walking across Tech's campus; it felt like my ears were going to fall off. Gloves are good idea too unless you want your hands goin dead.

During the spring and summer, it is very sunny but it is also really hot. Though not as bad as Florida, there are days where you can just walk for a 1/2 hour outside and be drenched in sweat. Air conditioning is a must, and your electric bill will reflect that.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#65

Post by tptacek »

evgen wrote: post #59
tptacek wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicago isn't a sprawl city. San Diego and San Jose definitely are. I don't know what a "meathead culture" is, but your favorite band is more likely to play here than in Atlanta or San Francisco.

Chicago has much more sprawl than San Jose. The latter is confined somewhat by geography and several open space preserves, while there is apparently nothing to stop the westward migration of Chicago's suburbs. After spending my university years in the Chicago area it was very bizarre to visit last week and realize that you can almost drive from the loop to Rockford without leaving suburbs/exurbs along I80. It is some…

You had to predict that someone was going to offer up a bespoke definition of "sprawl" to defend San Jose, and there you go. Thanks!

First, if you want to define "sprawl" geographically, then the Bay Area and Chicago are almost identical: it's 40.4 miles from the loop to Elgin, and 40.2 miles from the Sunset to Pleasanton. In both cases, that drive is an unbroken parade of suburbs.

Second, the conventional definition of "sprawl" is by population density. Chicago's is 12,500/sq mile; 2.8M people live within the borders of the city. San Francisco is more dense, but has only 800,000 people. No valley city even comes close.

Finally, your anecdote about the drive to Rockford would apply just as well to NYC --- drive 50 miles in any direction from NYC waiting for the suburbs to stop. Apparently NYC is also a sprawl city.

Notice I'm giving you the most favorable possible comparison here, pretending you compared San Francisco to Chicago and not San Jose. Saying "Chicago has much more sprawl than San Jose" is like saying "Chicago has much more sprawl than Oak Brook, IL". San Jose is a suburb with a couple tall buildings, surrounded on all sides by 10-15 miles of flatter suburbs.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#66

Post by omnivore »

tptacek wrote: post #65
evgen wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicago has much more sprawl than San Jose. The latter is confined somewhat by geography and several open space preserves, while there is apparently nothing to stop the westward migration of Chicago's suburbs. After spending my university years in the Chicago area it was very bizarre to visit last week and realize that you can almost drive from the loop to Rockford without leaving suburbs/exurbs along I80. It is some…

You had to predict that someone was going to offer up a bespoke definition of "sprawl" to defend San Jose, and there you go. Thanks! First, if you want to define "sprawl" geographically, then the Bay Area and Chicago are almost identical: it's 40.4 miles from the loop to Elgin, and 40.2 miles from the Sunset to Pleasanton. In both cases, that drive is an unbroken parade of suburbs. Second, the conventional definition…

I think public transportation in the NYC area makes the "sprawl" into Jersey, Connecticut or even parts of PA not so bad. Hailing from that region, but living now in the western outskirts of Chicagoland, I can attest to the very strange difference of the sprawl here versus what I'd term as "cohesive" outgrowth in NYC.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#68

Post by jacoblyles »

rms wrote: post #63
jacoblyles wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that the Atlanta area contains two of the ten gayest counties in America. Atlanta is definitely hipper and more tolerant than the rest of Georgia. People shouldn't judge it until they give it a visit.

Very off (or counter, perhaps)-topic, but you just reminded me of this clip from the great Sacha Baron Cohen. "So that's why I've come to the gayest part of America: Alabama!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnB5vqObkLw

Perhaps my comment contained too many prejudices, I apologize. I should have said that in my experience, I have not found any cities with large concentrations of gay people that match the close-minded deep south stereotype. There is a good reason for this - people generally don't enjoy living in areas where they aren't welcomed, and they move. Atlanta is a very metropolitan city, full of people of all different sorts of cultural groups. It is not the kind of place where people are persecuted for being different, or where the residents have a narrow-minded view of the human experience. You will find yoga parlors, sports teams, nerds, professionals, underground (literally!) indie dance clubs, clubs that only let you in if you know P Diddy, trendy restaurants in renovated warehouses, the best cuisine south of New York, weird religions, traditional religions, and, yes, two of the largest county-level gay populations in America (Dekalb and Fulton). On top of that, I paid $350/month in rent when I lived there. It's a good place to live.

I apologize for the previous flippant, un-nuanced comment that I snuck in while coding. It's a bad habit.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#69

Post by tptacek »

omnivore wrote: post #66
tptacek wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You had to predict that someone was going to offer up a bespoke definition of "sprawl" to defend San Jose, and there you go. Thanks! First, if you want to define "sprawl" geographically, then the Bay Area and Chicago are almost identical: it's 40.4 miles from the loop to Elgin, and 40.2 miles from the Sunset to Pleasanton. In both cases, that drive is an unbroken parade of suburbs. Second, the conventional definition…

I think public transportation in the NYC area makes the "sprawl" into Jersey, Connecticut or even parts of PA not so bad. Hailing from that region, but living now in the western outskirts of Chicagoland, I can attest to the very strange difference of the sprawl here versus what I'd term as "cohesive" outgrowth in NYC.

If you're out by Plainfield or (god help you) Dekalb, you're dealing with the impact of the mortgage bubble over the last 10 years, which has totally over-developed the former farmland that surrounded Chicago. Much of the Chicago suburbs have public transportion access that rivals the NYC suburbs.

Re: Could Atlanta Buy A Silicon Valley?

#70

Post by rms »

jacoblyles wrote: post #68
rms wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very off (or counter, perhaps)-topic, but you just reminded me of this clip from the great Sacha Baron Cohen. "So that's why I've come to the gayest part of America: Alabama!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnB5vqObkLw

Perhaps my comment contained too many prejudices, I apologize. I should have said that in my experience, I have not found any cities with large concentrations of gay people that match the close-minded deep south stereotype. There is a good reason for this - people generally don't enjoy living in areas where they aren't welcomed, and they move. Atlanta is a very metropolitan city, full of people of all different sorts…

Don't worry about it -- I really just found your particular phrasing funny because of its superficial resemblance to that Sacha Baron Cohen line. I was saying that I was off-topic.
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