Even as Internet companies shrink, merge and die, the regional economy just keeps humming.
Office space is snatched up the moment it's available.
Calif. Scarcely a month later, Mr. McInnes has had 15 interviews, and he expects to settle on a new job soon at roughly the same six-figure salary he got before. Measured by job creation, the region is growing as rapidly today as a year ago, when many Silicon Valley giants were still recovering from the Asian economic crisis. Of course, the region is accustomed to the contraction and consolidation that typically follows bursts of innovation. Of course, the dramatic decline in the number of Internet millionaires minted here each week has taken some of the froth out of the local real-estate market, which had bubbled to incredible heights. There are hints of a decline for commercial real estate as well.