WASHINGTON, DC–For the better part of the past six months, Cushman & Wakefield researchers have been working on C&W's inaugural top Tech Cities list. To be sure, other firms have studied the impact of technology in a city or region's real estate operations. C&W's national report differs slightly, however, in that it has focused on what the firm calls a market's “tech stew” — that is, the technical orientation of the local universities, capital, workers and overall entrepreneurial spirit or vibe. As C&W writes in its report:
Certain cities have the tech feel in the air, on the signage, in the conversations at the bars, in its population's habits and preoccupations. In certain cities, tech is more deeply woven into the fabric of the city itself, and it's dramatically shaping those local real estate markets.
For this first report, C&W came up with 25 cities that met its criteria [see chart for complete list] with the top five being:
1. San Jose, CA (Silicon Valley)
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Washington, DC
4. Boston/Cambridge, MA
5. Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC
Job Growth Driver
C&W decided upon this approach because technology has become an important job creation driver, Theo Slagle, a C&W director and specialist in tenant brokerage tells GlobeSt.com.
Statistics show that technology is the fastest-growing sector year over year, Slagle says.
“It is now more than ever before becoming a driver for growth,” he says. “Not only the tech companies themselves but the atmosphere and evolution of co-working space as well.” That, he says, has gone very far in fostering tech startups.
WASHINGTON, DC–For the better part of the past six months, Cushman & Wakefield researchers have been working on C&W's inaugural top Tech Cities list. To be sure, other firms have studied the impact of technology in a city or region's real estate operations. C&W's national report differs slightly, however, in that it has focused on what the firm calls a market's “tech stew” — that is, the technical orientation of the local universities, capital, workers and overall entrepreneurial spirit or vibe. As C&W writes in its report:
Certain cities have the tech feel in the air, on the signage, in the conversations at the bars, in its population's habits and preoccupations. In certain cities, tech is more deeply woven into the fabric of the city itself, and it's dramatically shaping those local real estate markets.
For this first report, C&W came up with 25 cities that met its criteria [see chart for complete list] with the top five being:
1. San Jose, CA (Silicon Valley)
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Washington, DC
4. Boston/Cambridge, MA
5. Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC
Job Growth Driver
C&W decided upon this approach because technology has become an important job creation driver, Theo Slagle, a C&W director and specialist in tenant brokerage tells GlobeSt.com.
Statistics show that technology is the fastest-growing sector year over year, Slagle says.
“It is now more than ever before becoming a driver for growth,” he says. “Not only the tech companies themselves but the atmosphere and evolution of co-working space as well.” That, he says, has gone very far in fostering tech startups.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
