Overview
Web-designing pros looking to branch out on their own, newly graduated coding wizards with innovative ideas -- anyone, really, seeking a community with a thriving economy -- should check out America's top tech cites. From Austin, Texas, to Washington, D.C., all offer a welcome home for entrepreneurs with computing and related experience, and each place has its own tech niche. There's enough geographic diversity in the list that those devoted to sun and surf can be just as satisfied as folks who couldn't do without four proper seasons. These successful towns are also spot-on options for anyone building businesses in the service industries: All of those flourishing code writers, app developers and SEM pros need places to eat, clothes to wear and nannies for their kids.
1.) Mountain View, California
If any place can claim the mantle of the birthplace of American computing, it's Mountain View. The Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory -- now defunct -- opened its doors there in 1956; it was the first manufacturer of silicon semiconductors. Thus, Silicon Valley came to be, Shockley begat an industry that grew strong on defense-contract deals and -- in neighboring town Los Altos -- Steves Jobs and Wozniak created the first Apple computer in the former's garage in 1976. Today, Mountain View is home to tech powerhouses Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn and Mozilla, among many more. Despite all of its wealth and influence, scenic Mountain View has a small-town feel (there are less than 100,000 residents), and its government leader has recently instituted a "Mocha With the Mayor" meetup program.
2.) San Francisco
2.) San Francisco
The City by the Bay is really an extension of Silicon Valley, and it's home to many who work in the high-tech firms a few miles to the south. It's also a tech powerhouse in its own right. Lucas Film Limited is based there, as is "Star Wars" virtuoso George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic -- the pioneer of CGI movie magic. Computer publishing is also a huge deal in San Francisco: Among many other influential magazines, "Wired," "MacWorld" and "PCWorld" are created here. Household-name websites and apps like Craigslist, Reddit, Yelp and Twitter also call the city home. The city's geeks rejoiced recently when a TechShop (a monthly membership–supported tool-house) opened in the South of Market district: It's filled with drill presses, welding equipment, even 3-D rendering machines for DIY techies. Finally, the quality of life in San Francisco is unparalleled -- the city's natural beauty, top-notch restaurants and culture all make it an enviable place to live.
3.) New York City
Downtown Manhattan is home to "Silicon Alley," a term coined in the late '90s to describe an area (roughly running from SoHo to the Flatiron district) that was home to early Web start-ups. Unfortunately, many of these pioneers failed in the tech bust in 2001, but a whole new crop of successful 2.0 firms have stepped in to take their place. Today, New York is home to Google's second biggest office, and Manhattan's tech community specializes in information technology, doing a booming business in advertising, finance and content. DoubleClick, IAC (the umbrella owner of more than 50 Web entities) and influential sites from Gawker to Vanity Fair are all based in the city that never sleeps. Of course, the cost of living is high in New York City, but for those who love its fast pace and endless opportunities, no place else can compete.
4.) Austin, Texas
The home to pioneering computer-maker Dell, Austin has long been a center of tech innovation. The University of Texas at Austin has a world-renowned computer-science department, and many grads choose to stick around this artsy, low-key town after graduation. The lower cost of doing business in Texas has led many high-tech companies to open satellite offices here rather than grow in Silicon Valley. Indeed, big-name players such as eBay, Google, Cisco Systems, Oracle and Intel have offices in Austin. The quality of life in this, the capital city of Texas, is excellent, if a bit edgier compared to the rest of the state. Indeed, its unofficial slogan is "Keep Austin Weird."
5.) Boston
Yes, Beantown has Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church, but it's also home to the country's top colleges and universities. Harvard, Boston University and especially M.I.T. mint brilliant tech-trained graduates every fall, and that's a big part of what makes this New England city such a high-tech hotbed. Historically, Route 128, a ring road around the city, was the nexus of one of the country's pioneering computing centers -- initially spurred by defense research. Companies such as Digital, Polaroid and Raytheon were major employers there as early as the late '50s. Today, Boston is a major player in both old-school high-tech (HP is opening a $10 million headquarters in Cambridge shortly) and Web 2.0: Huge investments by companies like TripAdvisor.com and Amazon are coming as well. The lifestyle in Boston is as close to small-town as one can get in a major city, and for those who love four-season living, it's a perfect choice.
6.) Seattle
The Emerald City is a hotbed of high-tech business and a big draw for skilled workers. Downtown Seattle's Pioneer Square, once a blighted area with homeless encampments, is now home to video-game creator Zynga, Isilon Systems and OneHub. So booming is the area that ground has just been broken on a mixed-use residential-office tower called Stadium Place, which many hope will fuel even more business. Of course, the city's most famous tech creation is Amazon; it's also home to Google Seattle, a Microsoft outpost and Real Networks. Sure, the weather's a bit on the rainy side, but Seattle is fetchingly set on Puget Sound, public transport is tops, and the culture and nightlife can't be beat.
7.) Los Angeles
Indeed, when most people think of Los Angeles, high-tech is one of the last things to come to mind. However, the stars of this town aren't all of the silver-screen variety. The L.A. suburb of Pasadena is home to NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and the California Institute of Technology and all the brilliant folks those places attract. The confluence of know-how and creativity in L.A. has given rise to Hulu, Buzzmedia, MySpace and hit gaming company Electronic Arts; Santa Monica even has a Yahoo office. The city has a well-earned reputation as the traffic-jam capital of the U.S., but with smart location choices, businesses can attract skilled employees from many neighboring communities. The sunny, Mediterranean-like microclimate here means most days are stunning, and you can hit the beach most every weekend.
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