Can Tech Rescue Americas Big Cities?
Posted by: Michael Arndt on August 19, 2009 Many times being big and diverse with business is a good thing for a city. It buffers the local economy from industry-specific slowdowns, and it gives people more options for careers. Fred Hoch lives and works in big and diverse Chicago, but sometimes he wonders if the city would be better off if it were more like San Diego or Austin—smaller places defined by a growth industry like biotech or semiconductors. (This isn’t just about Chicago, btw. Commodity cities across the U.S. might find a lesson here.) Hoch is president of the Illinois Technology Assn. (ITA), and through a facility called TechNexus, he’s doing his part to create a mini-Silicon Valley in Chicago. He walked me through TechNexus the other day. It’s a good start, and Hoch deserves more support and recognition than he’s been getting. The 2016 Olympics shouldn’t be the city’s only economic redevelopment plan. I feel awful to say this, but it also seems so puny. TechNexus occupies
