Top 50 High Tech (Southern) Metropolitan Areas

4222 Views 19 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Dank City, Jun 25, 2009

gwiATLeman

Discussion Starter · Jun 15, 2009

The Milliken Institute ranks the top high-tech centers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in their ability to grow and sustain thriving high-tech industries. Heres the cities in the south ranked in the top 50.

6 Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX (MD)
12 Atlanta-Sandy Springs, GA (MSA)
20 Austin-Round Rock, TX (MSA)
21 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX (MSA)
22 Huntsville, AL (MSA)
26 Durham, NC (MSA)
35 Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (MSA)
38 Raleigh-Cary, NC (MSA)
42 Ft Worth-Arlington, TX (MD)
43 Orlando-Kissimmee, FL (MSA)
48 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL (MSA)

North America High Tech

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

Whosville

· #2 · Jun 15, 2009

I think it is odd that both Durham and Raleigh would be on the list, as well as Dallas and Ft. Worth.

On the broader list, D.C. is different than Bethesda, Edison is different than Newark, which are both different than New York, as well as Bridgeport and Hartford, CT. Oakland, San Fran and San Jose are all different on the list. Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs.

I am not going to suggest a better way, but some of their distinctions strike me as odd. Who really is going to consider Bethesda different than D.C.? And, for that matter, who really thinks of Durham as different than Raleigh. Don't we think of the triangle as a whole?

Outside of Texas, Florida and the Research Triangle, not a whole lot to be proud of here. Huntsville is representing and Atlanta would make any list like this, but Nashville? Louisville? N.O.? Jacksonville? ... And what about our non-research triangle university towns?

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SRG

· #3 · Jun 15, 2009

So is Dallas-Fort Worth in Maryland now?

Maryland never looked so good lol.

gwiATLeman

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 15, 2009 (Edited)

The "MD" represents a Metropolitan Division, not Maryland.

A Metropolitan Division is a new classifiction used to refer to a county or group of closely-tied, densely populated contiguous counties that serve as a distinct employment region within an MSA.

Durham and Raleigh are separate MSAs.

snookums

· #5 · Jun 15, 2009

At first I was a bit puzzled about this list because Raleigh and Durham were a bit low on it. That was because I remembered Raleigh and Durham being very high on a another list. The Raleigh-Durham area is probably better known for research and education than being high-tech. But then again, this list is for the growth and sustainability for thriving high-tech industries.

Raleigh is the "3rd" (but really tied second-place with San Fransico) most educated city in the U.S. .........the most educated city in the South.
Washington D.C. and Austin are up there too:

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/elearning/?article=educatedcities

Durhamite

· #6 · Jun 16, 2009

Doesn't really matter but the reason Durham has a higher ranking than Raleigh is that some of the companies in/around the Research Triangle Park (RTP) area actually have a Durham address. A lot of RTP borders the city of Durham.

From that fact, many of the companies in the Research Triangle Park are in the town of Research Triangle Park, NC and do not have a Raleigh or Durham address (IBM for example employs 12,000+ in RTP, NC - GlaxoSmithKline employs 5000+ in RTP, NC, etc.) and may have been included in the Durham MSA.

The problem with the MSA as defined by the census bureau in terms of commuting patterns; RTP is extremely accessible from either Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill or Cary and people commute from all 4 (RTP serves as the centerpiece of the Triangle). So, how do you really know?....they don't. Plus, there are numerous businesses in Morrisville and other communities surrounding the park that are not technically RTP.

Not considering the Triangle community as whole definitely skews the TRUE impact of the area. No matter what obscure definition they use to define an MSA; Raleigh-Durham will always be ONE metro (extremely commutable between Raleigh, Durham, RTP, Cary and Chapel-Hill) to us.

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krazeeboi

· #7 · Jun 16, 2009

The CSA designation considers the Triangle (and other multinodal regions) as a whole. The MSA just demonstrates that both Raleigh and Durham have enough economic gravity themselves to be considered distinct in some sense. At least it doesn't make it look like Durham is a suburb of Raleigh.

SRG

· #8 · Jun 16, 2009

gwiATLeman said:
The "MD" refers to Metropolitan Division, not Maryland.

A Metropolitan Division is a new classifiction used to refer to a county or group of closely-tied, densely populated contiguous counties that serve as a distinct employment region within an MSA.

Durham and Raleigh are separate MSAs.

Just sounds to me like someone tampering with the definitions in order to split up Dallas and Fort Worth.

krazeeboi

· #9 · Jun 16, 2009

SRG said:
Just sounds to me like someone tampering with the definitions in order to split up Dallas and Fort Worth.

No, it's a subcategory. DFW was put together when the MSA designation was last revised so I seriously doubt it's getting split up again. Not sure why this study used MDs and didn't just stick to MSAs or CSAs though.

FLAWDA-FELLA

· #10 · Jun 16, 2009

Good to see the Sunshine State with 3 metro areas in the top 50.

Durhamite

· #11 · Jun 17, 2009

krazeeboi said:
The CSA designation considers the Triangle (and other multinodal regions) as a whole. The MSA just demonstrates that both Raleigh and Durham have enough economic gravity themselves to be considered distinct in some sense. At least it doesn't make it look like Durham is a suburb of Raleigh.

This definition is applicable to Dallas and Forth Worth, but they're in the same MSA. It's nonsensical to consider Raleigh and Durham as separate MSAs.

krazeeboi

· #12 · Jun 19, 2009

Durhamite said:
This definition is applicable to Dallas and Forth Worth, but they're in the same MSA. It's nonsensical to consider Raleigh and Durham as separate MSAs.

Obviously there's a greater level of cross commuting in the Metroplex that qualifies Dallas and Fort Worth to be categorized as one MSA. You may disagree with the methodology, but it isn't arbitrary. And the Metroplex, while one MSA, is also subdivided into metropolitan divisions that serve the same purpose for both cities.

And it's interesting that someone from Durham is arguing for the Triangle to be reconstituted into one MSA again. Usually it's the people from the larger city that argue for this for numbers purposes. People in Durham, Winston-Salem, Spartanburg, etc. seem to care less.

Ganis

· #13 · Jun 19, 2009

ya. Go Dallas!

TampaMike

· #14 · Jun 19, 2009

Thought Tampa and the area would be further ahead...

Durhamite

· #15 · Jun 20, 2009

krazeeboi said:
Obviously there's a greater level of cross commuting in the Metroplex that qualifies Dallas and Fort Worth to be categorized as one MSA. You may disagree with the methodology, but it isn't arbitrary. And the Metroplex, while one MSA, is also subdivided into metropolitan divisions that serve the same purpose for both cities.

And it's interesting that someone from Durham is arguing for the Triangle to be reconstituted into one MSA again. Usually it's the people from the larger city that argue for this for numbers purposes. People in Durham, Winston-Salem, Spartanburg, etc. seem to care less.

There is nothing obvious about convoluted definitions (MSA, CSA, LA..) that vary from one decade (or one year) and not the next. And it's not obvious that there is greater cross commuting in DFW versus RDU based on your assumption that is not supported by facts. Does it have to be 10%, 20%...???

I think the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham..) and any other metro area encourages partnership, etc when selling the strengths of the area. I don't think anyone in Durham has an inferiority complex when it comes to Raleigh, I can't speak for Spartanburg, etc.

krazeeboi

· #16 · Jun 21, 2009

Durhamite said:
There is nothing obvious about convoluted definitions (MSA, CSA, LA..) that vary from one decade (or one year) and not the next. And it's not obvious that there is greater cross commuting in DFW versus RDU based on your assumption that is not supported by facts. Does it have to be 10%, 20%...???

Of course it's obvious; otherwise, the Triangle would be one MSA and it's not. DFW is because, as I stated, there is a greater level of cross commuting within that metro area because MSA designations are based on certain commuting threshold levels. That's common knowledge and is certainly supported by facts (read here).

I think the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham..) and any other metro area encourages partnership, etc when selling the strengths of the area. I don't think anyone in Durham has an inferiority complex when it comes to Raleigh, I can't speak for Spartanburg, etc.

Of course they encourage partnership. I just don't see that including those from the smaller cities lobbying for the reconstitution of the former MSA like those from the larger city tends to do. It's just an observation; nothing more, nothing less.

Durhamite

· #17 · Jun 23, 2009

krazeeboi said:
Of course it's obvious; otherwise, the Triangle would be one MSA and it's not. DFW is because, as I stated, there is a greater level of cross commuting within that metro area because MSA designations are based on certain commuting threshold levels. That's common knowledge and is certainly supported by facts (read here).

Of course they encourage partnership. I just don't see that including those from the smaller cities lobbying for the reconstitution of the former MSA like those from the larger city tends to do. It's just an observation; nothing more, nothing less.

The Research Triangle Park employs over 40,000+ full-time people. To reiterate my point, people commute to this 16 square mile (8mi x 2mi) campus from each defined MSA. It would be interesting to determine the number of residents that live in the Raleigh-Cary MSA that commute to RTP which is geographically located in the Durham-Chapel Hill MSA. Is this considered cross commuting??? Technically, the RTP is it's own entity.

Refer this link:

http://www.rtp.org/main/index.php?pid=179&sec=1

It's all a moot point, it'll probably be recognized as an MSA in 2010 anyway.

I understand the identity crisis that is sometimes associated with the smaller city in a two-prong city MSA. Each has a pro-business agenda.

krazeeboi

· #18 · Jun 23, 2009

Durhamite said:
The Research Triangle Park employs over 40,000+ full-time people. To reiterate my point, people commute to this 16 square mile (8mi x 2mi) campus from each defined MSA. It would be interesting to determine the number of residents that live in the Raleigh-Cary MSA that commute to RTP which is geographically located in the Durham-Chapel Hill MSA. Is this considered cross commuting???

It is, but I suppose the more pertinent question is exactly what percentage of the workforce are crossing county boundaries every day for employment. I'm thinking that there might be a higher percentage of people who stay within Durham County who work at RTP than those who cross the county line every day which is why Durham is its own MSA. I could be wrong about that though.

cityboi

· #19 · Jun 23, 2009

In NC Winston-Salem ranked 204 and Greensboro ranked 117. You would think those figures would be switch considering Winston-Salem's efforts in research and technology. But I guess Greensboro/High Point does have a lot of tech jobs in the airport area.

Dank City

· #20 · Jun 25, 2009

SRG said:
So is Dallas-Fort Worth in Maryland now?

Maryland never looked so good lol.

Huh? In MD we like to keep cow on the plate instead of turning it into our biggest tourist attraction (Ft. Worth Stock Yard anyone? What...no takers?) Also, we're all set in the airport department, so I think MD must regretfully pass on the Big D.

Wichita, Edison and Bethesda made the list but OKC is missing? Whats the deal?

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