Some of the recent discussions in the comments have centered on job growth in Seattle. In a comment on the most recent post, T.S. made the following claim:
The job situation is misleading. While there may be low unemployment, which is good, the newly created jobs are simply not high-paying enough to support the current housing market. Unless all the jobs being created are executive positions, that is, which I don’t think is the case.
This comment reminded me of an article that was still in my inbox and hadn’t been posted yet. The headline is When it comes to attracting CEOs, Seattle’s not as pretty as she used to be.
At a recent meeting attended by local investors, a principal with a Seattle-based venture capital firm described the challenge he faces convincing top CEO types to move to Seattle to lead his ventures. His primary competition seems to be Silicon Valley, where a robust venture market chases the same business leaders.
Ask a typical Seattleite, though, and he’d be surprised the contest is even close. Seattle or Silicon Valley? He’ll tell you that the Silicon Valley is all about expensive homes, snarled freeways and an embarrassingly low espresso-stand-per-capita ratio. Bad schools, smog and crime, too. Offered a choice, any CEO-for-hire would accept the invitation to Seattle without a thought, right?
It turns out not to be so anymore. According to our local venture firm principal, traffic is becoming a major Achilles’ heel for our region — to the point where it spooks some CEO targets away before they get to the interview. After all, CEOs measure the same things anyone would: affordability of housing, lifestyle, quality of schools for their kids, commute distance to work, etc. Apparently, our traffic is nastier now. In the beauty contest to attract CEOs, it looks like Miss Silicon Valley is leading.
…
Perhaps we can concede the traffic mess to Miss Silicon Valley. But we must have the other parts of the contest won, right? How about affordable housing? Surely we have expensive California beat on that one.Well, not so much anymore. Our rising housing prices have now put Seattle neck and neck with our competitor to the south. Call this part of the contest a draw.
How about schools? We all know about the crowded and underfunded California public schools.
Guess again. Seattle’s schools just aren’t what they used to be, apparently.
Let’s also not forget the power of our delightful estate tax to drive away business leaders. Remember, the hard facts show that wages in our area are either growing very slowly, or actually decreasing. Where are the hard numbers that demonstrate Seattle’s supposedly booming economy? Sheer numbers of new jobs are nice and all, but if they all pay less than the median there’s no way that new jobs are going to sustain the housing growth we’ve seen.
Sure, we all love Seattle, but what does Seattle have to attract strong businesses and keep them here? Does Mr. Hoban’s point extend beyond just CEOs to good, smart people in general, and even whole businesses? I think it does.
(Tom Hoban, Snohomish County Business Journal, 04.2006)