Quote:
Originally Posted by Orlando
And, I think this is exactly what is wrong with the thinking of the local Utah tech and government agencies. If they believed more in urban vibrancy/ connectivity and environmentally sustainable development, they would develop more like Austin or Seattle, etc. These guys don't get it. They don't understand what sprawl is. It sucks vitality out of existing urban places, and exacerbates unsustainable sprawl development. We already have a huge water/drought problem, and yet many people still think large single family homes with large yards are still ideal.
The main reason why downtown SLC is doing better than in the past, is because these new tech employees are choosing to reverse commute, and live in the city and then drive out to Silicon Slopes. The Granary and Station Center/ Gateway area are prime for well integrated mix of uses and awesome urban amenities, including parks, trails, stuff that we have not yet seen. We are in the early stages of seeing these areas blossom into incredible lively and character rich urban places, which tech companies would have an ideal place to set up shop.
Regarding the floor plates, Qualtrix just bought a highrise in downtown Seattle for their largest office, and Salt Lake City has very large blocks which allow for larger floor plates, like 650 Main and 95 State. Amazon started in a place like the Granary, called South Lake Union. They did the opposite of Microsoft, which set up shop way out in the suburbs back when that was more of the norm.
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Listen, I'm going to preface this by saying I'm an urban enthusiast and appreciate well thought-out and well planned projects and I agree with much of what you're saying, but honestly this isn't a local way of thinking specific to Utah- this disfunction is found across aaaall technology hubs (and cities around the country) like the Bay Area, LA, Seattle, Austin, Denver (DTC), and on and on- don't kid yourself.
Reality is that many (if not most) tech companies are headquartered or have large offices in the suburbs of these cities, rarely downtowns. This sprawl is found all over the country. Amazon did do something cool w/ their Seattle hq, but it's def the exception.
And ultimately, other than providing monetary incentives and tax breaks, government can't really control where they end up- the US isn't China or Russia yet ...and honestly, the government is absolutely awful at managing really anything and getting worse at doing it by the year.
This incompetence is unfortunately due to the way these interlocal agencies/committees/commissions are structured. By and large, the best and brightest are definitely not working for gov't entities and those that are, move on very quickly. (...yes, this is a generalization, but generalization are often based on some aspect of truth. That said, I do believe there are always exceptions to the rule, so no one go and get all triggered by this, haha).
One example of a number I've experienced, is of one of my best friends who worked for the state after graduating with his masters. He would go on and on about the depressing people and stories that he endured for the year or two he worked there, recounting stories of people just doing the bare minimum and talking about their retirement and pensions at some point in the distant future.
He left as quickly as he could once he gained the needed experience. After moving into the private sector, he became a VP of finance about 7 years ago at a small company with 10-20M rev at the time that has grown to 500M today and anticipating $1B valuation within the next 5 years. Over this same period of time he was promoted to CFO then CEO. Unfortunately, this is common through my anecdotal experiences. And unfortunately, this a similar situation exists with our education system here in the state where teacher turnover after the first 5 years is between 45-60% (56% in 2014, though that has come down into the upper 40s recently as the state has made a push to emphasize teacher retention).
Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of respect for teachers and feel it is an incredibly noble career choice. But you're not going to retain top talent with $40-$50K salaries. Honestly, I wish there was an incentive system where the best teachers could make $100K+ while the lower performers would be weeded out naturally that would properly compensate the importance of the position and the individuals educating our upcoming generations, but that is a different conversation altogether.
Anyway, in short, talented, ambitious (more than likely intelligent problem solvers) ...people are driven- state jobs are the antithesis of this ambition, which likely causes much of the disfunction. Combine that with the elected officials that are often times very narcissistic, wanting and make their mark in a short 4 or 8 year term that will catapult them to a higher-level elected position and that is what creates the perfect difunctional storm that drives us on this forum all crazy wondering why certain things were done and poor decisions were made.
...just speaking truths here. We have to be honest with ourselves sometimes.
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