7) diversity (not just about immigrants — age, culture, political, philosophical, work style, gender, ability) has unspoken benefits beyond the ones that are usually touted.
The diversity of Silicon Valley is very enticing not only for companies who just repeat the word as a marketing buzzword while not necessarily comprehending what it gives them (a lot), but also for young engineers, male and female, in their social lives, and having a huge diverse pool of potential partners to meet and mix with is something that appeals to our strongest drives as humans, and no dreary place is going to compete.
It also creates a comfort zone for creative people of all types and backgrounds, not only for their work, but also for their life outside of work and the lives of their family members, some of whom may actually have opinions about where they want to live.
It's hard to look at typical Silicon Valley workplace or the broader society around it and say that there is diversity of culture, political viewpoints, and philosophy.
Agree... The diversity runs about skin deep and that's it. Most people in their 20s and 30s are still children of rich/UMC parents. Very few people I have met in SV are from lower class families.
Socioeconomically - it's a wildly monolithic culture. Extremely capitalistic as well to where many people cannot fathom anything that doesn't fall outside the purview of capitalism because they've been taken so strongly by it and it's all they've ever known. You run into plenty of leftists/communists/socialists and what not too but they have no power or positions of authority... Usually just ICs or random people around Berkeley.
Young engineers don't move here because they want to date someone in a position of power or authority. They move here because they can work with, and date, interesting and attractive people.
I'd agree that the diversity of economic backgrounds seems limited. Although I'd caution that people tend to attempt to hide parts of their background they feel will make others and themselves uncomfortable, so your perception may be skewed by that.
Precisely. "It's the economy, stupid". Among the employed and single in Silicon Valley, estimates are that there are three men for every two. It's an awful place to date, even beside the fact that nobody moves anywhere for the dating pool.
If there were a ton of high-paying tech jobs in Chicago that needed people to be local, a whole lot of people would buy a down coat and gloves and just deal with the weather, lack of nearby mountains etc.
I like the Bay Area. I'm even going there on a trip in a couple of days. But, at the end of the day, most people aren't basing where they live on the climate and recreational options (though those may make a difference at the margin).
The diversity of Silicon Valley is very enticing not only for companies who just repeat the word as a marketing buzzword while not necessarily comprehending what it gives them (a lot), but also for young engineers, male and female, in their social lives, and having a huge diverse pool of potential partners to meet and mix with is something that appeals to our strongest drives as humans, and no dreary place is going to compete.
It also creates a comfort zone for creative people of all types and backgrounds, not only for their work, but also for their life outside of work and the lives of their family members, some of whom may actually have opinions about where they want to live.