Being There with Artists, Tech Innovators, Wealth-Creators and More
The Power of Place
In the late 1950s, musicians found a place of belonging in Greenwich Village. The 2024 book “Talkin’ Greenwich Village” by David Browne captures the togetherness of that sanctuary. From it emerged Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, the Weavers and Phil Ochs.
Clusters of human beings with the same dreams and tremendous drive hanging out in-person have been the drivers for so many of the big-bangs, both in society and on an individual basis.
If you wanted to produce a breakthrough concept for generating wealth the odds were and are that you have to be on Wall Street. That’s where at Drexel Burham Lambert Michael Milken invented high-yield bonds. Although he went rogue with that, history still recognizes “junk bonds” as a significant contribution to finance
In the 1950s, what was to be coined “Silicon Valley” got off the ground with partnerships between Stanford University and tech companies. It became possible to pass along so much information and insight through interacting with the best in their disciplines. Soon enough high tech was the disruptor in business, then in how we live.
And, on an individual level, chair of Paul Weiss Brad Karp tells the story to The Wall Street Journal of being mentored by the greats. He sat right next to them at that law firm. They would explain the strategy they had just used with a client in a phone call. The junior lawyer might not have evolved into that Brad Karp without the sustained human interaction with those top legal players.
Incidentally, research proved out that proximity increases mentorship. Some speculate the during the remote years of COVID young lawyers missed out on professional development.
Back in the late 1950s, “being there” was cheap. It would be even cheaper if you bunked across the river with relatives in New Jersey and came into Greenwich Village or Wall Street for the action. In Silicon Valley you could bunk in the garage or a crash pad.
Currently, as I point out in this article published in O’Dwyer’s Public Relations, the expense embedded in proximity can be nosebleed.
In Manhattan, the average rent for the one-bedroom in Manhattan $4,875 and in Greenwich Village per se it’s $5,720.
The average rent in Silicon Valley is $3,111. That reason that it’s surprisingly low is the recession in old-line tech, that is, pre generative AI.
But being there can happen anywhere. Those driven to succeed with a dream can join together and replicate the magic of clustering. The geographic area that became known as “Silicon Valley” didn’t always have that ethos. People coming together created it.
A typical example of success from collective action is what retirees determined not to outlive their money but demanding a nice lifestyle put together in the LCOL (low cost of living) area.
Once Sierra Vista, Arizona was a small town with a military base. Then military folks settling in for retirement got the word out that this Weather Paradise, not far from major city Tucson and tourist Mexico, was affordable.
Today it’s a retirement mecca and the average one-bedroom in Sierra Vista goes for $866. Because of the 4,944-feet elevation there’s no extreme heat, so no costly air-conditioning bills. The meme tends to be: We have everything we need. The average rent in Florida for a one-bedroom is $1,670. Add on the air-conditioning bill.
However, the takeaway is probably: It takes money to make money – and something that didn’t exist previously. Right now, it might be necessary to invest in living in the HCOL area to realize your dream.