Why You Cannot Artificially Build Another Silicon Valley
What I learned from a three-week pilgrimage to the San Francisco Bay Area simulating a mock Silicon Valley geek
In late September, I went on a pilgrimage to San Francisco and the Bay Area to temporarily live my unlived life as a mock Silicon Valley geek. To best simulate it, I rented a monthly-billed room at a residence instead of a hotel and signed up for a hot desk at WeWork.
During my three-week stay, I literally commuted on weekdays from my temporary home, the residence located between Pacific Heights and Nob Hill, to the workplace, WeWork SOMA near Financial District. I went to work by Uber and worked on my iPad Pro, which was my primary and only computer during the pilgrimage. (Even though the “work” was not very serious stuff, just some personal research, reading and memo writing / sketching.) When returning home, I walked through Financial District, took a little break at the Redwood Park at the foot of Transamerica Pyramid, and walked again through China Town. After dinner at the residence cafeteria, I often spent time at a cozy cafe in Russian Hill watching the day’s Bloomberg Technology news again on my iPad Pro while most of the cafe customers were quietly working on their MacBooks. I was so into my mock-life there and quite contented.
Like a real life, I avidly explored other neighborhoods in San Francisco on weekends and even took some weekdays off to visit nearby cities like Palo Alto and San Jose. One day, my friend living in Menlo Park, who’s actually an ex-client from my previous PR agency work, and his friend gave me a guided tour inside Facebook campus, which I appreciated so much. I had lots and lots of fun and the entire travel was exactly what I intended, at least seemingly. Actually my real intention was forgetting about Silicon Valley for good after the pilgrimage. It was planned as a farewell trip, kind of solace to my poor soul that has aspired to the life which is not mine …
However, it didn’t work that way. I’m now in love with Silicon Valley even deeper than ever. And that happened in very unlikely places — independent bookstores in San Francisco.
Amazon might have killed Barnes & Noble. But independent bookstores (like the one in the picture, located in Mission District, one of the oldest neighborhoods in SF) are having healthy lives of their own with strong supportive communities around them. Every neighborhood or district of this city seems to have such a bookstore. While each one is unique and different, often dedicated to a specific theme, all of them were moaning about one thing; free spirit of San Francisco gave birth to Silicon Valley but it is now killing the spirit …
Before this pilgrimage, I just thought that San Francisco is the city that financially completes the Silicon Valley ecosystem, which is not hundred percent true. While San Jose, the south end of Silicon Valley, makes a solid industrial cornerstone of the valley, San Francisco is its mother goddess. As the epicenter of hippie culture in 60’s, this city has always offered alternative values and rich countercultures against (or complementary to) mainstream American idealogies. (Steve Jobs was also born and grew up in San Francisco.) That’s why the area around the city became the land of the geeks and the home of the nerds.
It’s not that long ago that Silicon Valley became mainstream-ish. Geeks in Menlo Park and Palo Alto of earlier days were like brothers and cousins (or alter egos) of hippies in San Francisco. They just wanted out-of-the-box ideas (excuse this cliché) and alternative lives and didn’t intend to make this area into the birthplace of super riches. Those who were once against capitalism eventually became the greatest contributors that helped the American capitalism reach its peak. Is this a blessing or a curse?
But I love this irony. I love all this agony and cognitive dissonance that folks in this area go through. This is what keeps Silicon Valley one and only.
But I love this irony. I love all this agony and cognitive dissonance that folks in this area go through. This is what keeps Silicon Valley one and only. If this area had been constructed by the US government or developed as a kind of gold rush destination by greedy folks, it would not have become Silicon Valley as we know it. If Silicon Valley hadn’t have such unique spiritual background, Google wouldn’t have dropped out of $10 billion bidding for Pentagon contract.
These days, many cities (not only Asian / European cities but also other US cities like Chicago, etc.) are not shy about demonstrating their ambition to become next Silicon Valley. But it’s not gonna happen.
Many people say that Silicon Valley’s heyday is already over. From a capitalist perspective, it may be true. There would be cities and districts with more wealth and abundance from their IT business in China, Europe or Middle East over next several years. And it would be possible by more intentional, structured efforts orchestrated by governments. But the land of the geeks and the home of the nerds are not born and nurtured that way …
I already look forward to my next trip to the Bay Area.
