Phase 2, the Shake-Out, is underway. And Phase 3, Consolidation, and Phase 4, Boom II, are waiting in the wings. But those six companies are not only survivors, but also pathbreakers for the thousands to come. I don't see goateed 24 year-olds dressed in black panhandling on Market Street. I don't see nose-ringed young women with severe haircuts lined up at St. Anthony's soup kitchen, or tearfully spending their meager savings on plane flights home.
Housing prices are higher than ever.
So are rents. A new Ferrari drove down my humble suburban street this afternoon. Another recent survey finds one out of every four people in the Bay Area own stock options, one out of three in Silicon Valley. That compares to one of out twenty people in the rest of the United States. That too is a surprise, especially in a town not famous for long time horizons or perspective.