Triangle tops tech hubs on list

Silicon Valley group ranks areas

Silicon Valley is so yesterday.

Today, the top place for technology companies is the Research Triangle Park region. That's according to a new report by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a consortium of businesses in the storied tech corridor. For the second year in a row, the group named Raleigh-Durham tops among other U.S. research hubs.

Silicon Valley ranked dead last -- again.

The Triangle got high marks for a strong job market, affordable housing and manageable traffic.

"We focus, as this region has and the park has for 50 years, on building a better mousetrap, building a more competitive platform for companies that work at the knowledge end of the economy," said Rick Weddle, president of the Research Triangle Foundation that manages RTP. "Obviously, it's paying off."

The region has had a strong run during the summer, attracting an expansion of Fidelity Investments that will create 2,000 jobs and Novartis, which plans a vaccine manufacturing plant in Holly Springs. It is expected to employ 350.

Success, though, can be a curse.

As companies flocked to cities such as San Jose and Boston, traffic worsened and housing prices soared. That made them less attractive.

The report, which comes out Wednesday, is supposed to help Silicon Valley identify challenges and see whether it is making progress toward solutions. Members of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group include companies that employ 250,000 people in that region.

Weddle said he won't rest on the laurels.

"We have to make sure we continue to work ahead of the curve and not be complacent or overly confident," he said. "We also have to constantly -- to borrow the hockey metaphor -- skate where the puck is going to be."