Culture
Rise of the 'Urbanpreneur'
How the internet ushered in a new era for entrepreneurs in the urban ecosystem.
For years we’ve heard that geography doesn’t matter, we’ve conquered distance and the world is flat. Modern communication and transportation technology means it doesn’t really matter where we live or work. Even with the ongoing back-to-the-city movement, high-tech startups and the ecosystems in which they flourish are supposed to be the last bastion of suburban nerdistans—arrayed in office parks in Silicon Valley or the suburbs outside of Boston, Austin, and Seattle.
The reality is that startups and high-tech industry have become urban. Downtown San Francisco now has more high tech startups that suburban Silicon Valley. Urban areas from Lower Manhattan to downtown London, Berlin, and Toronto have become the new entrepreneurial zones.