This is an interesting graphic. Notably, Charlotte, Tampa, Orlando and South Florida made the list. Alas, Jax is nowhere to be found.
Surprising, given JTA has ordained us the AV capital of the U.S. ;D.
(https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Top_Tech_Hubs_2023.jpg)
Shocking!
Who made this list? How dare they omit the AV CAPITAL OF THE UNIVERSE!
If you ask Nat Ford & Co. the idea seems to be that once we have spent half a billion dollars on the U2C, that will inspire the tech workers to flock to Jacksonville, begging to be part of the future of transportation, instantly sparking a tech renaissance on the First Coast. Finally, our silver bullet has arrived! Experts argue that Jacksonville is the global leader in digital innovation! (https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/2021/05/15/guest-column-jobs-jax-investment-city/5081601001/)
But seriously, we talked about this already (https://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,37756.msg526188.html#msg526188) with the Commerce Dept. designations. Whatever radar our city boosters keep insisting we're on for tech, no one outside the First Coast seems to see it, at least as a first choice.
Other than Raleigh and Salt Lake City, all of these metros are significantly larger than Jax. All this reveals to me is that from a market and scale perspective, we are what we are for a 1.6 million MSA. But basically...we aren't a tech hub.
Quote from: thelakelander on December 27, 2023, 02:03:53 PM
Other than Raleigh and Salt Lake City, all of these metros are significantly larger than Jax. All this reveals to me is that from a market and scale perspective, we are what we are for a 1.6 million MSA. But basically...we aren't a tech hub.
Yes & no. The only reason several of these cities are the size that they are is directly from Tech. Jacksonville was larger than probably half of these cities in 1990-2000 time period. Tech is the only industry that attracts foreign talent like it does, and our country relies on immigration to maintain our 2% quotas. Domestically, they are the highest paying jobs so they motivate people to move from one city to another.
Long story short, some of the "smaller" cities on this list have been involved in the tech pipeline for more than 30 years, and only since COVID have really solidified themselves as a tech "hub." For the longest time, if you weren't in Silicon Valley or NYC, you weren't really in tech to begin with. That's 100% changed.
Quote from: Jax_Developer on December 28, 2023, 08:48:03 AM
Jacksonville was larger than probably half of these cities in 1990-2000 time period.
Sorry but no - the graphic isn't about City population, its metro area population. The only ones smaller on here are Sal Lake City and Ottawa. Jax has been smaller than almost all of the rest for many decades.
Quote from: tufsu1 on December 28, 2023, 11:22:17 AM
Quote from: Jax_Developer on December 28, 2023, 08:48:03 AM
Jacksonville was larger than probably half of these cities in 1990-2000 time period.
Sorry but no - the graphic isn't about City population, its metro area population. The only ones smaller on here are Sal Lake City and Ottawa. Jax has been smaller than almost all of the rest for many decades.
Sorry, but yes.
- Austin
- Salt Lake City
- Portland
- Raleigh
- Ottawa
- Charlotte
- Calgary
All of these cities once had a comparable or smaller MSA to Jacksonville, in 1990.
^ my mistake - there are 3 still smaller.
But you listed 4 others. So how again is that "probably half" when the map shows 35 metros?
Quote from: tufsu1 on December 28, 2023, 02:58:05 PM
^ my mistake - there are 3 still smaller.
But you listed 4 others. So how again is that "probably half" when the map shows 35 metros?
About a quarter of those regions visualized are CSA's actually and not MSA's. NYC, SF, Chicago, Toronto, DC, Boston, Philadelphia all are obviously not comparable cities. The dataset has it in broken down by MSA for all the regions. Hence why I said this:
"Long story short,
some of the "smaller" cities on this list have been involved in the tech pipeline for more than 30 years, and only since COVID have really solidified themselves as a tech 'hub.'"
I also find the metro conversation to be a mute point of what's stated above. Tech jobs are located in urban environments. If you go on that basis, I'd happily include cities like: Pittsburgh, Columbus, St. Louis in my list. But those specific geographies have shrunk and are also not comparable in this conversation.
If you boil down the remaining cities, there's not that many that make sense to be compared with. The cities listed, and about 7-8 more, are the only cities on this visual that make any sense comparing to. Obviously the larger cities will have more tech work, no refuting Lake's point there... But there are also at least 10 cities on this list that have been siphoning tech workers as a key industry of theirs for the last 30 years. Those city leaders made conscious efforts a long time ago and are seeing the rewards of it now.
Jacksonville is actually in the dataset at #44. If you open it up, we don't rank near any peer cities. The dataset includes 50 total MSA's. We are compared to: Cincinnati, Hartford, San Antonio & Cleveland. All of those cities were much larger than Jacksonville in 1990, and have a similar tech presence today as we do. Meanwhile, Austin is ranked #6, SLC is #16, and Raleigh is #19 on the list.
Long story short, I'll be sure to be more precise on my language but don't take back what I originally said. Out of the comparable smaller MSA's on this list, half of them were smaller than Jacksonville in 1990.
I don't see any slight on Jax for it not being on this list. However, the list would be better if it was a top 100 or something along those lines. You would then see how far (or close) those not on this list actually are. At the end of the day, Jax needs to chart its path in areas that logically make sense. It's okay to not try and out Austin, Austin.
Agreed & I think logistics has a lot of potential. But why would city leaders not be more focused on attracting higher paying jobs? I do think there's a lane in Northern Florida given our natural resources, UF, and proximity to the space coast.
They did provide #51-#75 on that list. Some notable ones are Huntsville at #51, Palm Bay at #64 & Birmingham at #72.
Palm Bay? How many more tech jobs do they have over Jacksonville?
Quote from: Jax_Developer on December 28, 2023, 08:52:28 PM
Agreed & I think logistics has a lot of potential. But why would city leaders not be more focused on attracting higher paying jobs?
There are lots of high paying jobs out there. Just hoping no real city leader is counting on something like the U2C turning this city into the next Silicon Valley.
Jacksonville is higher than Palm Bay at #44. It lists Jacksonville's total at 23,620 with Computer Support & Data Systems accounting for more than half of all tech jobs locally. Palm Bay has 14,690 unspecified Tech Jobs but they are likely skewed towards Aerospace. Huntsville is shown as having the same total Tech Jobs as Jacksonville.
I agree Lake, but High-Tech jobs litter the Top 25 list of highest paying professions. I think bringing tech to a city is a worthwhile endeavor for any Mayor with the base to support it. I think there's a lot of groundwork that still needs to be figured out locally before we get any serious traction. If they do the UF Grad Campus well (my hopes aren't super high or anything) then I think there's a base to start from.
My bad, I'm not saying to not seek high paying jobs. Just being realistic about the tech hub talk.
Oh yeah.. that's a while away.
Quote from: marcuscnelson on December 27, 2023, 01:55:36 PM
If you ask Nat Ford & Co. the idea seems to be that once we have spent half a billion dollars on the U2C, that will inspire the tech workers to flock to Jacksonville, begging to be part of the future of transportation, instantly sparking a tech renaissance on the First Coast. Finally, our silver bullet has arrived! Experts argue that Jacksonville is the global leader in digital innovation! (https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/2021/05/15/guest-column-jobs-jax-investment-city/5081601001/)
You jest, but in 2025 the iconic Andrew Jackson riding a horse statue will be replaced by an equally iconic statue of Andrew Jackson riding inside an AV.
Then we'll see who's laughing.
(https://media1.tenor.com/m/iDpJi8k8994AAAAC/morgan-freeman.gif)
Here is a prediction for 2024: The U2C project becomes a major scandal and Nat Ford, voluntarily or involuntarily, leaves JTA over it. Maybe I am off a year, and it is 2025. But, I predict it is coming. Can't hide a $400 to $500 million fiasco forever. ;D.