Pipe

The interesting thing about this area is that real estate prices are high for the semi-rural location and relative distance from a major business/cultural center. True, the college/university communities make it it's own little cultural oasis and carry some orbital higher cost-of-living weight, but in general the economy around here is none too good - at least that is what the indicators tell you. It's not awful, but it isn't the kind of economy that should be driving the real estate market the way it's going. It is a shade of the Boston or San Francisco Bay Area boom of the 1990s, although on the surface there's no reason for that kind of push. There are no serious high-tech or bioscience drivers out here. There is no investment economy to speak of. There certainly is no renaissance of the industrial base. Where is the money coming from?

Evidence on which to build hypothesis:
1. We have an under-utilized tributary of fiber optic pipe running up the valley - highest speed internet.
2. Anecdotally there is a significant minority of people who work from home in some aspect of the knowledge or service or media arts economy.
3. The quality of life is really worth sticking around for and has all the markers literate and artsy technorati prize.

My take is that there is a new freelance professional class that exert a quiet impact on the area. There are people whose livelihoods are not place dependent. For example, I know of several graphic artists who have lucrative careers with major graphic novel/comics publishing houses. They go in to meet with their editors in NYC or out to LA a couple of times a year. All else is done with scans, and UPS and email. I know of one guy that had a brief but highly successful consultancy helping larger non profits take advantage of the web for everything from cost-saving intranets, to board development to reaching and cultivating various constituencies. His business peaked and then declined when the next generation of kids coming out of college could provide the same expertise he was charging $100/hr for for $25,500 a year plus benefits. He cashed in and moved to France.

You get the idea.

So where are we in this? Tomorrow I'll tell you.