"9 tech-savvy towns under the high-tech radar"
tecca.com
"9 tech-savvy towns under the high-tech radar"
A collection of high-tech small towns you probably didn't know exist
by Shawn Schuster on November 8, 2010
When you think of tech-savvy cities, what comes to mind? Tokyo, Japan? Seoul, South Korea? San Francisco, California? While you'd be absolutely correct, in this article, we're more interested in the high-tech cities you've probably never considered to be hotbeds of technology.
Unless you live in or around these modern-day Mayberrys, you might not realize just how technologically advanced smaller towns can be. So we've put together a list to highlight the rise in technology across the world outside of the large cities. This list is in no particular order as we plan to periodically revisit the topic with even more of these small-town tech hubs.
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga recently became the only city in the United States with 1-gigabit fiber-optic broadband for residential and business customers. To put that into perspective, it means it's 10 times faster and 10 years ahead of the FCC's National Broadband Plan that aims to put 100Mbps (megabits per second) speeds in 100 million households nationwide by 2020.
Only two other parts of the world have this same broadband speed: Hong Kong and Portugal.
Of course, this distinction won't last long for Chattanooga, as Japan, the UK and many other countries are already developing their own gigabit networks.
Tallinn, Estonia
Fans of the cheesy '80s flick Encino Man might remember Estonia as the homeland of Pauly Shore's caveman friend, but this Eastern European country boasts the rank of oldest city on this list. You wouldn't think a city with medieval ruins would also be considered high-tech, but Tallinn's often called the Silicon Valley of the Baltic Sea.
Not only does the city have free wireless internet facilities for all residents, but it's also the home of Skype, which has become the most widely used program for voice communications over the internet.
Greensburg, Kansas
In 2007, an F5 tornado wiped the town of Greensburg from the map, quite literally. The 1.7-mile-wide twister was actually wider than the city itself, completely leveling 95% of the town of just under 1,600 people.
Although tragic, this gave the small town an opportunity to rebuild from scratch. Taking initiative from the town's ironic name, Greensburg decided to become a "green town," with a little help from The Discovery Channel's Planet Green. The city is now powered by wind turbines, solar panels and geothermal technology, and every house is LEED Platinum-certified to meet or exceed federal guidelines on energy efficiency.
New Songdo, Korea
New Songdo is an interesting element of this list, as it's not really even a city yet. Started on a 1,500-acre man-made island just offshore from South Korea's western coast, New Songdo is being built as part of a $35 billion development financed by New York City-based real estate developing giant Gale International.
It's being built with only the highest of tech in mind. As explained by B.J. Fogg, director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, New Songdo will be "one big Petri dish for understanding how people want to use technology."
New Songdo is slated for completion in 2015 with room for 65,000 residents.
Chandler, Arizona
With a population of just over 250,000 people, Chandler barely edges out Chattanooga as the largest city on this list. The Phoenix suburb is home to Intel's $2 billion chip-plant expansion, as well as providing main manufacturing plants for Motorola and Microchip. The city is also home to Williams Air Force Base and the Mission System Operations for Boeing.
Ironically, all of these technological advantages do nothing for the city's excitement level, as Forbes named Chandler one of the top 10 most boring cities in 2009.
Lenoir, North Carolina
Lenoir was once known as a furniture industry capital of the United States but is quickly getting itself a high-tech makeover. Companies such as Google, Corning, Apple and Commscope are taking advantage of the area's favorable labor market, lower cost of living, and moderate climate to bring cutting-edge technology to the booming North Carolina manufacturing market.
Quincy, Washington
While Seattle is Washington's high-tech crown jewel, Quincy has made a name for itself by dabbling in a little high tech of its own. In 2006, the town of 6,500 people was to be the site of server farms from Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. The city's local utility district offered these companies electricity at half the national average cost, courtesy of the nearby Columbia River. Construction on the server facilities stalled in 2008, thanks to a diminishing economy and a bait-and-switch tax proposal by Washington legislators, but the city is still in the running to attract facilities from Ask.com, Intuit, Sabey Corp, and Base Partners.
Despite the stall in production from Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google, the city's infrastructure was enhanced with cutting edge hydroelectric power and fiber-optic lines that will help secure its technological future.
Manor, Texas
Until last year, Manor, Texas, was famous for one thing. Its water tower was used in the 1993 movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape, but the town of approximately 6,000 residents wanted something more. With the help of its mayor, Manor has become what could be considered a giant test bed for the latest consumer technology. The town government is the first government agency in the United States to use the QR Code program to track what its residents want, which seems to be working well.
This "Gov 2.0" program is being lightly tested in larger cities, but Manor is the smallest to embrace it with such enthusiasm. The city uses web and smartphone apps to vote for everything from what large supermarket chain will plant roots in the town next to which potholes to fix. And the best part? It's working! Over 2,000 residents participate in town-related suggestions, as opposed to the 15 or so who used to show up for city council meetings.
Huntsville, Alabama
To anyone who follows the aerospace industry, Huntsville should be the least surprising city on this list. Since the 1950s, Huntsville has been integral to the U.S. space program. It houses the infamous Space Camp at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Redstone Arsenal, and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command.
But does a city built on an aging U.S. aerospace industry count as high-tech? It does when 1 in 13 of the city's population is employed as some type of engineer. In my book, a city full of rocket scientists knows its technology