Brady PieperNew York City, San Jose and San Francisco top nationwide list ranking cities’ tech economies, capacity and ability to attract new young talent, according to a recent New York University (NYU) report.
The new 2024 report for the Cities Emerging Technologies Index, developed by NYU’s School of Professional Studies (SPS), evaluates how well major U.S. cities are fostering technological advancements and leveraging these assets for the benefit of residents. The index’s final report is intended to provide cities’ strengths and weaknesses in entertainment, convenience and economics to better foster technological enhancements in the future.
“The NYU SPS Cities Emerging Technologies Index not only spotlights excellence but also offers a roadmap for urban leaders to enhance and elevate their communities,” NYU SPS Dean Angie Kamath said. “Our aim with the index is to help inspire cities to fully embrace technology’s potential in creating sustainable and inclusive environments for all residents and businesses.”
Surveying over 25,000 U.S. adult residents, the index is designed to address both habitability and entertainment factors and the development of technology sectors in 55 major metroplexes around the country.
The final ranking, known as the Total Cities Emerging Technologies Index (CETI), evaluates locales using a weighted average of the report’s two guiding indices — the Tech Economy Index (TEI) and the City Entertainment & Habitability Index (CEHI).
The TEI ranking assesses cities’ appropriate education, taxation, patents and immigration policies to observe the development of economic and technological capacity.
According to the final TEI, NYU researchers state that the West Coast dominates the tech economy with four metro areas in the top 10, including the San Francisco and San Diego metros in California and the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro in Washington.
Notably, the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara region in California tops the list with a perfect score based on a combination of economic and technological factors and the presence of large tech businesses.
Other large cities, such as Austin, Denver, Boston and Raleigh, rank in the TEI’s top 10 thanks to high marks in city technological development and tech impact on residents.
Focusing on entertainment and habitability, the final report’s CEHI ranking evaluates cities’ ability to attract young talent and professionals through the availability and accessibility of entertainment and quality-of-life options.
The CEHI finds that the New York City metro, including Newark and Jersey City in New Jersey, is the ideal city to attract talent, offering a broad range of entertainment options. Primarily, the report notes New York’s availability of entertainment options, restaurants, bars, “reasonable commute times” and concentration of population and businesses as the largest factor leading to the city’s number one ranking.
Following New York City, the report lists the Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and Houston metro areas to round out the CEHI’s top five.
The San Jose metro area, despite leading the TEI, ranks 55th for entertainment, quality-of-life and habitability due to poor entertainment options, according to the report.
Combining these two rankings, the CETI index encompasses all of the report’s efforts and is considered to be the most objective ranking and best predictor for technological development, according to university officials. The CETI ranking is calculated to predict both a city’s current technological development and capacity to improve technologically over the span of six years.
Utilizing the final CETI ranking, 10 metropolitan areas represent the tech-friendliest environments and most innovative cities for the future. These include:
1. San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, California
2. San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, California
3. New York–Newark–Jersey City, New York–New Jersey
4. Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, Washington DC–Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia
5. Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, Washington
6. Boston–Cambridge–Newton, Massachusetts–New Hampshire
7. Austin–Round Rock–Georgetown, Texas
8. Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, California
9. Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, Colorado
10. San Diego–Chula Vista–Carlsbad, California
Notably, coastal cities and regions account for eight of the top 10 metropolitan areas in this CETI ranking. Only Austin and Denver crack the top 10 as non-coastal regions.
The final 2024 report for the Cities Emerging Technologies Index, including individual TEI, CEHI and CETI rankings, will be used to guide and advocate for metropolitan areas, city governance and policies that improve the development of technology-building capacities for residents and businesses.
The CETI index also contributes to the efforts and goals of the Emerging Technologies Collaborative at NYU SPS, which includes AI and other innovative tech initiatives. Working with cross-industry partners and students, the collaborative explores the convergence of the physical, digital and virtual worlds that can impact global industries, communities and professions.
Additional information on the Emerging Technologies Collaborative can be found on SPS’s ETC website. The full CETI index, authored by NYU SPS Professors Milor Bujisic and Vanja Bogicevic and NYU contributors Angie Kim and Dina Kakezai, is available here.
Image by This_is_Engineering from Pixabay
