Content companies often employ young, single workers looking for a hip urban experience. And a growing number of businesses, led by CEOs seeking a remote but wired escape, are moving to the country. Companies developing new electronic products, aircraft and spacecraft looked to the bucolic fringes of urban centers. Particularly favored were areas with good climates, plenty of room and scenic appeal, such as Southern California's San Fernando Valley, the Santa Clara Valley south of San Francisco and the rolling hills surrounding Sun Belt cities such as Atlanta. These areas now boast some of the highest concentrations of technology workers in the world.
Cities have their own success stories to tell.
Once pronounced dead, many have experienced new life, not only due to their roles as cultural centers, but because of their singles scenes. By the late 1990s, major concentrations of Internet and new-media businesses, populated by young, creative professionals, developed in urban neighborhoods. The move back to rural areas has its origins in the early 1990s, when America's rural population spiked because of job growth in the boonies. This led to a critical change in the demographics of the countryside. It used to be less-educated and older people who flocked to rural areas, but knowledge workers make up a growing percentage of the population.