As you read this piece by Allan Golombek at RealClearMarkets on the economic advantages of large cities, keep in mind that nowadays having the members of functional units of a business residing in multiple different time zones, some separated by as much as 12 hours, is not uncommon.
“. . . at one time New York was the leading manufacturing center of the United States . . .”
Maybe around 1840 when NY, Boston and Philadelphia were major textile producers with giant warhouses, simple technologies and lot of women/children laborers, but New York was always the center of finance and trade. It’s almost never useful as an example of anything.
The rest of the U.S. is not evolving to become NY, any more than Liverpool or Manchester is becoming London. This is the sort of thinking that leads to “what is good for New York is good for everybody eventually,” when really what is good for New York is good for New York.
Heh, kind of myopic. We have a headquarters in NY, with people in NC, FL, IL and one who was in Zurich, now Boston.
We have portfolio company HQs in OH, TX, PA, FL and CT. With operations in a longer list, including one in Argentina. We hold half the board meeting by phone, half on site.
Methinks another wave of technology and expectations may overwhelm Mr Golumbek’s thesis. Not to mention the high and getting higher cost of living in cities.
[So in a recent trip to NYC we stopped into a PJ Clarks for a simple meal. A hundred bucks. We live in a high cost of living area, Naples, but you couldn’t spend that here for the same meal if you tried. Our daughter had been thinking about NYC for internships and permanent work. That was an eye opener for her.]
Re: PJ Clarks
What are the critical success factors for a restaurant?
1. Location
2. Rent
3. Portion control
Yeah, and the location obviously trumps the rent for PJ’s. My daughter was with a group seeing company presentations. She asked recent alums how they make it in NYC with pricing the way it is. The answer: “we eat a lot of noodles.”
Funny, one of the bastions of liberalism is the poster child for income inequality……….
My current job (part-time) is completely online. I applied online, I was interviewed online and I’ve never actually met anyone else who works for this small LLC (5 people total, expanding to 6!).
Several friends and acquaintances now telecommute – especially those who work in places where commuting is hell – like DC.
I think it’s the wave of the future for a lot of white collar jobs and I think there will likely be some major implications for our society because of it.