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There is a lot to digest there...

Banks can be in the 'burbs, but when most were incorporated, it was beneficial to be next to the exchanges and to government (both the fed office and the feds, etc.) but some have moved to Raleigh or RTP... And, for some a big skyscraper = prestige.

>There is 'not that much to do' in Palo Alto

For people without kids this makes a difference --it makes a difference to the newly independent, the ones in fraternities and sororities, they want to continue their partying. For people with kids, even if they live in the city, most nights are spent at home -unless they are one of those "power" people who must "rub elbows".

>how many truly innovative companies were ever created in the city

I think that's just a coincidence. As you point out, lots of universities are in the burbs (Cheap land for a nice campus and dorms) and a nice place to start on your idea with your mates/pals/etc.

In addition, till recently, companies had to "build things" physical things and it's easier to build those things where there was land. There is a reason Toyota isn't in the center of Tokyo. But nowadays where the product is non-physical, we do see some innovative companies begin in expensive cities.

>A lot of great Universities seem to be out in nowhere-land as well

True, but there is the exception of Boston.

>True, but there is the exception of Boston.

Or NYU, Columbia, University of Chicago, UCLA, King's College, London School of Economics, the Sorbonne

>Also consider: how many truly innovative companies were ever created in the city and grew to be quite large?

Amazon is one example.

Yet, when they need distribution centers --where do they go for real-estate? Where do AMZN, GOOG, MSFT, etc., go for their DCs? That's right, not in downtown.

Of course they don't put them downtown. The logistics would be a nightmare (especially for distribution centers).

You're right. My point is a lot of innovation goes into data centers (as well as distribution centers) and necessarily it's not downtown.

There was another topic on HN talking about these datacenters.

Less than 50 people work in a typical datacenters. All the R&D to make the datacenter is done outside of it, in R&D centers.

To be fair, the discussion is about corporate offices and not DCs. Amazon may build DCs out of town for servers but they build skyscrapers downtown for people.

Sure - but it's rare.

Think about all the big companies you know.

None of them - except banks/insurance are really in the city.

Look at Twitter, they almost got there, now dwindling.

I've worked at a few startups, and visited a zillion.

Though Goog/FB do have a cool/trendy vibe ... I can't help but feel that most of them wouldn't fit city life very well.

I knew some Engs. in the Valley - super smart dudes who never heard of ISIS. I mean, man. They don't even watch the news. Work -> kids -> geeky projects -> riding. That's it. I don't blame them at all ... But I really do think that the culture out in the burbs is more amenable to 'Empire Building' and getting loyal, normal, predictable folks.

BTW - banks have a lot of job hoppers - because their career paths are so formalized, it's not a big deal for people to hope from one building to the next. Some of the systems are identical, if not entirely the cultures. And many forms of banking are intensely social, which is not like tech.

I also think most banking types tend to be 'upper urban' type people - or at least aspire to that. Tech people are more low key about things.

Anyhow, just my observation.

> isolation and creating culture

Pick one. "culture" develops when different ideas meet. Unless you mean corporate cargo-culting and echo chambers.