A Silicon Valley study revealed that not all Americans want to live within the high tech neighborhood. In fact, residents are starting to leave the tech hub location faster than the number of people arriving.
According to the Silicon Valley Competitiveness and Innovation Project, Silicon Valley lost over 7,500 residents last year. This was the first time the region had lost more U.S. workers than it had gained since 2011. Two local groups funded the study to identify strategies to improve the region's innovation.
Although the resident pool was still growing, due to a large number of highly educated foreign workers. The departure of homegrown talent revealed the weaknesses in the region's ability to retain its population, especially with affordable housing, as reported by the WSJ.
John Melville, co-chief executive of the firm that produced the study, had stated that people were leaving for a number of reasons. Most are getting opportunities in other regions where they can opt for less housing costs.
The influx of people towards region was significant because access to a workforce was one of the most critical points in the Silicon Valley economy. One-quarter of all Silicon Valley workers were in what the study describes as industries that are related to technology. Software engineering roles made up 8 percent of the region's workforce, and IT services made up another 4 percent.
Silicon Valley's cost of living had become a main issue. The neighborhood's property prices increased 13 percent between August 2014 and August 2015, higher than all other regions in the study. Meanwhile, transportation had also been listed as an issue. In 2014, the average Silicon Valley commuter spent 67 hours in traffic, an increase of 13.6 percent from 2010.
Seattle and Austin, Texas, the smaller techie hub locations, have been welcoming more U.S. residents, Forbes reported. Over the past year, Seattle saw an increase of more than 17,000 residents and Austin logged an increase of 720 residents from other parts of the U.S.
