California-and the L.A. area especially-keeps losing corporate headquarters--WHY?

[The North One]

Originally Posted by barney82

Within the developed world, population tracks GDP pretty well. If you amalgamated the states in the Acela Corridor, they would have a GDP bigger than California. Heck, if you amalgamated enough states in the Midwest to equal California's population, you'd have an economy about the same size.

Yes, this is what I was getting at.

[eschaton]

In general, corporate headquarters are consolidating away from smaller cities and into larger cities for two reasons. First, there's talent recruitment. Big firms know that they'll have the most talented potential labor field in major metropolitan areas. Secondly, there's the presence of international airports which allow for direct flights to as many places as possible.

LA should be doing good by these measures. It's hard to beat LAX for international connections. I think LA tends to lag a bit by the other comparison though - talent pool.

I mean, LA is a large metropolitan area, so it has a lot of professionals in aggregate. But outside of the entertainment industry, it is not a huge draw for young professionals from outside of the region. It also might not help that while LA is getting denser, most of the major corporations are not headquartered in DTLA, but elsewhere in the city or the region, meaning you're not really talking about an LA CBD, but suburban business headquarters. LA is also such a sprawly metro that you can't really treat the professional labor pool across the whole as one - many people will be outside of your commuting shed depending upon where you're located. If you decide, as a company, you want to lower costs, you can just move to a sprawly suburban area elsewhere. In contrast if you want to have a more "traditional" HQ in a downtown CBD, you could probably find a more functional one than DTLA sadly.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by barney82

Within the developed world, population tracks GDP pretty well.

Except for Australia, Canada, Japan...

[Emprise du Lion]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Here's an article from the Pasadena Star News regarding Nestle leaving Glendale:
Why Nestlé USA is moving 1,200 jobs, and its HQ, out of Glendale

If I worked for Nestle, I personally wouldn't want to leave Glendale. I actually like Glendale... and Pasadena.

Now Burbank, I don't like. No offense to people who are from there or live there.

Nestle's IT department is being consolidated in St. Louis, so St. Louis is picking up 300 of the jobs leaving the LA area.
http://www.stltoday.com/business/loc...2e9b65b7a.html

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by The North One

Alaska? I don't see how this comparison is relevant. California certainly has the advantage of a massive coastal land area to build cities with easy global access, not frozen Alaskan tundra, and Texas seems to be catching up real fast.

I don't think state lines really mean much, which is why I made the Northeast corridor comparison. It's the cities and their regions that drive the economy.

How large would the economy of the two be if Northern and Southern California were two different states? Or if it was split up like the East Coast?

Almost 40 million people; 5 states with 8 million (avg), still more populous than most of the states. Will never happen, because the 5 state "California" would have 10 Senators and many more electoral votes, and the people from the "hick" states would block that.

3 states might be just right-South CA, Central CA. & No. CA. Or should it be So., No. and East CA? East CA would be all the more conservative areas away from the coast. L.A. area has enough people to form a state alone.

[DJM19]

Originally Posted by eschaton

In general, corporate headquarters are consolidating away from smaller cities and into larger cities for two reasons. First, there's talent recruitment. Big firms know that they'll have the most talented potential labor field in major metropolitan areas. Secondly, there's the presence of international airports which allow for direct flights to as many places as possible.

LA should be doing good by these measures. It's hard to beat LAX for international connections. I think LA tends to lag a bit by the other comparison though - talent pool.

I mean, LA is a large metropolitan area, so it has a lot of professionals in aggregate. But outside of the entertainment industry, it is not a huge draw for young professionals from outside of the region. It also might not help that while LA is getting denser, most of the major corporations are not headquartered in DTLA, but elsewhere in the city or the region, meaning you're not really talking about an LA CBD, but suburban business headquarters. LA is also such a sprawly metro that you can't really treat the professional labor pool across the whole as one - many people will be outside of your commuting shed depending upon where you're located. If you decide, as a company, you want to lower costs, you can just move to a sprawly suburban area elsewhere. In contrast if you want to have a more "traditional" HQ in a downtown CBD, you could probably find a more functional one than DTLA sadly.

LA produces more engineers than any other Metro in the nation. It has several amazing universities. It has too much talent really. There are more highly skilled professionals than there are jobs and they end up moving to other places all over the nation and world.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Crawford

True, but a lot of high-paying LA jobs are in nontraditional fields. LA obviously has an enormous entertainment industry, and, by far the biggest industrial/port/logistics economy in the U.S., while there are relatively few traditional corporate jobs. I think that's OK, as long as the overall economy is fairly healthy.

It's anecdotal, but one thing that has surprised me about LA is that traditional corporate or professional jobs seem to pay less than in other metro areas. My wife is a huge warm-weather fan and we have family in Orange County, so I've applied to a few jobs over the years, just for the heck of it. Apples-to-apples salaries in OC are significantly lower than in NYC, yet home prices are very high.

I get a sense that the LA area has a LOT of people living paycheck to paycheck, just barely making ends meet. It seems that everyone needs a luxury car and nice home, and image is just more important. In the NYC area it's totally normal to be rich and driving an old subaru or something (or in the city itself, just take the bus or train); that obviously doesn't fly in coastal OC.

Oh god, can you get any more cliche than this? Such a ridiculous statement.

Anyways, LA is not a corporate city. We are full of freelancers and self employed people. For example, of my 15 closest friends, only one is a W2 employee. Everyone else either owns their own business or is a 1099 employee (Real estate, insurance, etc)

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by DJM19

LA produces more engineers than any other Metro in the nation. It has several amazing universities. It has too much talent really. There are more highly skilled professionals than there are jobs and they end up moving to other places all over the nation and world.

Thank you. So many ridiculous stereotypes and assumptions being made about LA and California on this thread.

[the urban politician]

^ Its because Angelinos are too busy surfing to run big companies

[Gordo]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Except for Australia, Canada, Japan...

What? How are those different? Within the developed world, their rank in terms of population and GDP are basically identical (the "basically" part being that Anglosphere countries outperform much of developed Europe on per capita GDP in general).

[Quixote]

This news comes at the same time that Snap Inc. (Snapchat's parent) files for its IPO and reveals that it tripled its employee count this past calendar year. I don't use the app myself and am not sure how the company plans on evolving/growing its business model now that Facebook and Instagram have copied its story-sharing feature. Nonetheless, it's a major social media platform that's found its way to the mainstream and continues to hire top talent from established names. More importantly, it serves as the face of LA's maturing tech economy and a conduit for recruiting locally educated professionals. Everyone mentions Caltech, UCLA, and USC, but what about the private art institutions of CalArts and Arts Center and their highly ranked Animation and Industrial Design programs, respectively?

It was also recently revealed that the LA metropolitan area leads the nation in number of business startups (although I realize that this theoretically includes mundane services like florists and tire shops). This feeds into the narrative that a greater percentage of residents here are self-employed and/or don't rely on one salaried profession. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well here.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, runaway production has been tamed and reversed thanks to the film tax credit program rolled out by the state in 2009. The entertainment industry is here to stay.

It seems like LA is treading water more than anything else, not unlike the current state of the nation. There are too many built-in advantages, resources, and institutions here that all but ensure its continued relevance, but it needs to adapt quicker.

[ChargerCarl]

Originally Posted by Crawford

True, but a lot of high-paying LA jobs are in nontraditional fields. LA obviously has an enormous entertainment industry, and, by far the biggest industrial/port/logistics economy in the U.S., while there are relatively few traditional corporate jobs.

Im a student and this is what I'm trying to break into. I plan on applying to a lot of supply chain/logistics type jobs after I graduate (Math/Econ degree with accounting) and theres a ton of job openings in LA/OC which is where all my family is.

My uncle works for a logistics firm at the port and loves it, and given how affordable San Pedro/Long Beach is relative to the rest of the city the standard of living there is excellent for someone pulling in a professional salary. My parents were even thinking of buying a second home there as an investment or a place for me to live before prices get too high.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Its because Angelinos are too busy surfing to run big companies

Surfs up dude. All we do is snowboard, surf, smoke weed and eat great food... wait... that IS what we do haha

[ChargerCarl]

I've always felt the Big Lebowski and Swingers accurately capture the spirit of LA.

We're just a bunch of losers, but in a good way. I think it has something to do with the warm weather.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by ChargerCarl

I've always felt the Big Lebowski and Swingers accurately capture the spirit of LA.

We're just a bunch of losers, but in a good way. I think it has something to do with the warm weather.

These old L.A. & Cal. stereotypes are just wrong. The westside of L.A. probably has a higher IQ density than any city west of NYC or Boston, and in academic decathalons you often find L.A. area schools. Oh, and did I mention CalTech, UCLA or even USC? Plenty of productive and intelligent and super-competitive people in L.A., and I didn't even mention Silicon Valley. L.A. is more than lazy surfer dudes and Big Lebowski's. Braving L.A. traffic and 2 hour commutes is not for sissies.

[ChargerCarl]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

These old L.A. & Cal. stereotypes are just wrong. The westside of L.A. probably has a higher IQ density than any city west of NYC or Boston, and in academic decathalons you often find L.A. area schools. Oh, and did I mention CalTech, UCLA or even USC? Plenty of productive and intelligent people in L.A., and I didn't even mention Silicon Valley. L.A. is more than lazy surfer dudes and Big Lebowski's. Braving L.A. traffic and 2 hour commutes is not for sissies.

Caltech has like 2000 students...

Obviously LA has lots of smart people, and the Westside is pretty much 100% gentrified now, but this is a recent phenomenon and as others have pointed out LA is still a working class town.

[Cirrus]

This is a digression, but since we are on skyscraperpage I figured I'd mention that the building Nestle is moving into in Arlington is currently the tallest building in the DC region.

[mhays]

I can't see it.

[mt_climber13]

California is getting very crowded and so taxes are raised to try to stabilize the population and prevent it from exploding. Yes, everyone wants to move to California for the weather, mild winters, beaches, the natural wonders. If taxes were as low as everybody wants them to be, the traffic congestion and quality of life would suffer tremendously due to the influx of the huge amount of people that would attract. So, taxes are kept high to lower the demand for newcomers. The side effect is that it has created a diaspora of working class and middle class workforce out of the state to nearby Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Arizona, etc.

[ChargerCarl]

Originally Posted by wakamesalad

California is getting very crowded and so taxes are raised to try to stabilize the population and prevent it from exploding. Yes, everyone wants to move to California for the weather, mild winters, beaches, the natural wonders. If taxes were as low as everybody wants them to be, the traffic congestion and quality of life would suffer tremendously due to the influx of the huge amount of people that would attract. So, taxes are kept high to lower the demand for newcomers. The side effect is that it has created a diaspora of working class and middle class workforce out of the state to nearby Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Arizona, etc.

California is about the same size as Japan with like 100 million less people, we're not overcrowded...

If we zoned our cities sensibly we could easily double the populations of our major urban areas and, IMO, increase the quality of life by having a critical density that could support broad, far reaching rapid transit systems.