A couple of months ago, Holly and I were talking about Silicon Valley and wondering if the same phenomenon could be reproduced elsewhere–specifically, in New York, because I really don’t want to leave New Jersey. I really didn’t have many good answers, but a few days ago, Guy Kawasaki gave an excellent answer: How to Kick Silicon Valley’s Butt.
The entire entry is worth reading, but I just wanted to take a quote completely out of context because I still can’t stop smiling when I read it:
“[…] if you want to cover your ass, you need to open your kimono […]”
The depressing part of reading Guy’s blog entry is, if he’s right and I suspect he is, it’s not very likely that there’ll be another “Silicon Valley” elsewhere because the preconditions just aren’t there. Yet.
Tags:
Guy Kawasaki,
entrepreneurship,
Silicon Valley
Programmer, husband, father, singer, guitarist, tinkerer, reverse engineer, strange, and living in New Jersey. 
Well if you mean a chance for a Silicon Valley anywhere in New Jersey, I would say the chances are near zero there. Nevertheless you referred to Silicon Alley which is in New York City and I do believe it is distinctly possible to re-ignite the energy that was evident there during the late 90’s early part of 2000’s. New York City is a magnet for creative people from the world over and it has been for decades before the advent of computers. The fact it has not been a magnet for creatives in the Computer Science field is a disappointment but I don’t believe its because of weather or some of the other things Guy mentions. Agree that Stanford is a big draw and something equivalent is lacking in New York and also agree with Guy it would not occur as part of any Government led initiative or sponsorship. New York City government is probably the most corrupt and bungling governmental entity even with the improverments made under Guliani and Bloomberg administrations.
I believe it could be sparked by actually a few creative people (like yourself) starting and succeeding at building compelling software incubator like firms perhaps even in places such as Long Island City overlooking the midtown skyline.
You interested in starting something?
Um, Guy is absolutely right. What are the prestigious engineering engineering schools in NYC? Columbia School of Engineering is the only one that comes to mind. Hmm, to choose between sunny Stanford or CalTech … or, being just south of Spanish Harlem at CU? It’s a no-brainer.