Via Stowe this morning: When It Comes To Innovation, Geography Is Destiny – New York Times. This little article dives right into the guts of some of our TorCamp conversations.

SIR PETER HALL, the British scholar of urban clusters, asks in
“Cities in Civilization,” his history of geography and business
innovation: “What makes a particular city, at a particular time,
suddenly become immensely creative, exceptionally innovative? Why
should this spirit flower for a few years, generally a decade or two at
most, and then disappear as suddenly as it came?”

Sir Peter’s
words highlight an enduring human mystery. In the case of Silicon
Valley, the world rightly waits for the flame of creativity to burn
out. That’s fair enough. To each, a season (or maybe a few). Living
long and large, Silicon Valley surely will wither like a dead flower
someday. My advice, though, is: Don’t hold your breath.