Tech thrives on connection, and America's west coast tech hubs are more connected than ever before. But Seattleites aren't in a rush to abandon their city's distinctiveness.
Silicon Valley and Seattle dominate when it comes to tech, and there's a lot of crossover between the two. Referred to here as "Silicon Valley North," recently "the Seattle area has become a complement to the valley. Some even argue that the regions, though 800 miles (1,300km) apart, are becoming one."
Within the industry, there's still a lot distinguishing the two centers. "The valley has plenty of giant firms, but its focus is mainly on startups and smartphones. In contrast, Seattle is still more of a company town, with Amazon and Microsoft, both builders of big data centres, looming large."
While Silicon Valley still dominates the sector, there is give-and-take. For instance, many of Bay Area companies rely on Amazon Web Services, based in Seattle. But as techies jet up and down the coast on commuter flights dubbed the "nerd bird," many Seattleites aren't thrilled by this state of affairs. "Seattleites don't want their city to become like San Francisco, which is dominated by affluent, techie types."
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