Where are the promising tech hubs in the US outside of Silicon Valley, NYC and Boston?
May 22, 2012 10:30 AM Subscribe
If you were looking for tech jobs in the US outside of the usual suspect places of California, New York City and Boston area, where would you start looking? I'm trying to find promising tech hubs for software development / digital media jobs with great quality of life outside of the aforementioned places.
A few years back, an IT professional I knew ran the software from a Places Rated guide. Texas kept comingout high up the list. You might look at places like Austin, which I have heard mentioned more recently as a good tech place.
Atlanta GA and Research Triangle Park also to come to mind.
posted by Michele in California at 10:34 AM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
Atlanta GA and Research Triangle Park also to come to mind.
posted by Michele in California at 10:34 AM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
North Carolina's research triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) has been booming.
posted by thewumpusisdead at 10:36 AM on May 22, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by thewumpusisdead at 10:36 AM on May 22, 2012 [3 favorites]
You could also consider Canada, which has easier work visa regulations for foreigners than the US... The three cities in Canada with an excellent work-life combo and a strong software/digital media sector would be Victoria BC, Vancouver BC, and Montreal. Hint: Victoria and Vancouver experience almost no snow in the winter.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:40 AM on May 22, 2012
posted by KokuRyu at 10:40 AM on May 22, 2012
DC area, particularly Northern Virginia, but quality of life might not match some of the other places mentioned. Jobs, however, are rather plentiful in the DC tech arena.
posted by flyingrock at 10:42 AM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by flyingrock at 10:42 AM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
Portland, OR for younger web-based startups and Intel hangers-on.
Seattle has a bunch of start-ups, as well as Google, FB, Amazon, MSFT, Boeing, and a bunch of biotechs.
There is content related stuff in LA, like Hulu and MySpace.
Austin, TX has lots of game companies, and music related stuff.
My advice is go hit up some VC webpages, such as this one and this one, and check out their portfolios. See where things are located.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:43 AM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
Seattle has a bunch of start-ups, as well as Google, FB, Amazon, MSFT, Boeing, and a bunch of biotechs.
There is content related stuff in LA, like Hulu and MySpace.
Austin, TX has lots of game companies, and music related stuff.
My advice is go hit up some VC webpages, such as this one and this one, and check out their portfolios. See where things are located.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:43 AM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
Atlanta's not so great unless you love driving in traffic and fighting heat with air conditioning.
RTP is lovely, although you can't actually live in RTP - you'd live in Durham, Chapel Hill, or Raleigh.
posted by amtho at 10:46 AM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
RTP is lovely, although you can't actually live in RTP - you'd live in Durham, Chapel Hill, or Raleigh.
posted by amtho at 10:46 AM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]
Minneapolis has a small but growing tech community. There are lots of retail and marketing companies here, so there are tons of web development shops aimed at working with those companies. There's also a good amount of traditional defense/aerospace work (a few of the major DARPA contract recipients are here). Sadly, there are virtually zero consumer-oriented startups. The focal point of the community is tech.mn.
posted by miyabo at 11:07 AM on May 22, 2012
posted by miyabo at 11:07 AM on May 22, 2012
Well, I work for a huge tech company in the Atlanta area. The trick to living in working in Atlanta is to not be too far away. I have a reverse commute and I'm at work in 10 minutes most mornings. Husbunny has had his vehicle for 5 and a half years and only has 23,000 miles on it. So it's do-able.
RTP would be a good choice, smaller, but still nice.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:31 AM on May 22, 2012
RTP would be a good choice, smaller, but still nice.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:31 AM on May 22, 2012
Manchester, NH—near the ocean and the mountains—is apparently an up-and-coming tech start-up area. I have nothing but anecdotal evidence to support this, however.
posted by feistycakes at 11:40 AM on May 22, 2012
posted by feistycakes at 11:40 AM on May 22, 2012
Austin has a whole lot more tech employers than just "game companies, and music related stuff," including, for instance, Dell HQ. Great place to live if you like lake-related activities and don't mind the heat.
posted by tippiedog at 12:03 PM on May 22, 2012
posted by tippiedog at 12:03 PM on May 22, 2012
Not that I recommend working for Dell, just using it as an example of one of the biggest tech employers in town.
posted by tippiedog at 12:03 PM on May 22, 2012
posted by tippiedog at 12:03 PM on May 22, 2012
You can't beat Charleston SC for Quality of Life. And while the salaries are generally below median nationwide, so is cost of living. The biggest con (although it's improving) is the hit-and-miss quality of public schools. Housing is relatively cheap and there is a fast growing tech sector here. Take a look at the Charleston Digital Corridor Talent Portal for a sampling.
posted by ElGuapo at 12:22 PM on May 22, 2012
posted by ElGuapo at 12:22 PM on May 22, 2012
Portland's tech scene is doing OK now, but employment opportunities have gone through rather severe shifts in the past and I'm not sure we're robust enough to be considered a "hub."
posted by croutonsupafreak at 1:38 PM on May 22, 2012
posted by croutonsupafreak at 1:38 PM on May 22, 2012
I am seeing a bunch of job postings regularly for Bloomington, Chicago and other areas in IL. Not pure software companies, but more of IT jobs in non-IT industries like Retail, Healthcare and Manufacturing.
posted by theobserver at 1:57 PM on May 22, 2012
posted by theobserver at 1:57 PM on May 22, 2012
The Tualatin Valley in Oregon. (Beaverton, Hillsboro, and points between.) High tech areas tend to be anchored by one or two really large tech companies, and in this case it's Tektronix and Intel.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:33 PM on May 22, 2012
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:33 PM on May 22, 2012
Chattanooga, TN. Still the city with the fastest residential Internet in the US (gigabit fiber to your house). Check out www.gigcity.com for the sort of tech innovation on the way b
posted by griffey at 5:43 PM on May 22, 2012
posted by griffey at 5:43 PM on May 22, 2012
Definitely another vote for Austin, TX. We are actually having a shortage of top talent so it is an applicants' market right now.
posted by magnetsphere at 5:45 PM on May 22, 2012
posted by magnetsphere at 5:45 PM on May 22, 2012
Yes, Northern Virginia/D.C. Part of why I left after growing up there was that I *didn't* want to work in tech and as far as what was available work-wise it was tech or military-industrial complex or tech + military-industrial complex. Traffic is terrible, but salaries are great and the cultural/entertainment options can't be beat.
posted by jocelmeow at 11:20 AM on May 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by jocelmeow at 11:20 AM on May 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
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posted by the jam at 10:33 AM on May 22, 2012 [2 favorites]