The number of computer workers in the city increased 51% from 2005 to 2009. In Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley, that figure grew by only 12% during the same period. The city is now become an incubator in its own right, says Swartz, with recent start-ups like Twitter and calling San Francisco home.
Swartz quotes Russell Hancock, CEO of the public-private firm Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, who offers an explanation:
"The city attracts the new, younger tech crowd...It is a powerful cluster for social media, Web 2.0, design-heavy work. Plus, Silicon Valley has been coping with globalization and contract work outside the area."
