Everyone knows that in these two regions geeks rule, most parents explain their child's career by saying say "my kid's into computers" and somebody's always stuck in traffic. But how do the locales stack up in a coast-to-coast showdown? From IT salaries and educational institutions, to climate and real estate, there's much to debate about which is the best spot for an IT career.
Top number of U.S. IT employees
WEST COAST -- Numbers 1 and 2 -- San Francisco and Los Angeles
EAST COAST -- Numbers 3 and 4 -- Washington, D.C., and Boston
EDGE : WEST COAST
Brain trusts
WEST COAST -- Cal Tech, Stanford
EAST COAST -- MIT, Carnegie Mellon
EDGE -- EAST COAST
Tech nickname
WEST COAST -- Silicon Valley -- Legendary
EAST COAST -- The Rte. 128 Corridor -- Lame
EDGE -- WEST COAST
Big kahunas
WEST COAST -- Cisco, Google, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun
EAST COAST -- EMC, IBM
EDGE -- WEST COAST
Storied VCs
WEST COAST -- Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Greylock, Benchmark Capital
EAST COAST -- Battery Ventures, Atlas Ventures
EDGE -- WEST COAST
Culture club
WEST COAST -- Liberal, laid-back and status-conscious
EAST COAST -- Uptight, ultra-competitive and status-conscious
EDGE -- WEST COAST
Show me the money!
WEST COAST -- Senior Software Engineer / Developer / Programmer salary: $105,662 (San Francisco)
EAST COAST -- Senior Software Engineer / Developer / Programmer salary: $96,961 (Boston)
EDGE -- WEST COAST
Real estate reality
WEST COAST -- Saratoga, Calif. -- Median home price $1.4 million
EAST COAST -- Wellesley, Mass. -- Median home price $1.1 million
EDGE -- EAST COAST
Weather forecast
WEST COAST -- Constant sunshine and cool Pacific breezes year round
EAST COAST -- Hazy, hot and humid summers and Nor'easter blizzards in the winter
EDGE -- WEST COAST
Coffee snobbery factor
WEST COAST -- Will drive miles to find a Starbucks
EAST COAST -- Swears by Dunkin' Donuts, which is on every corner
EDGE -- EAST COAST
Signature commuting road
WEST COAST -- Highway 101 in San Francisco -- Nightmare!
EAST COAST -- Rte. 128 through Waltham, Mass. -- Only a bad dream!
EDGE -- EAST COAST
Preferred vehicle
WEST COAST -- Toyota Prius Hybrid
EAST COAST -- Volvo Cross Country
EDGE -- WEST COAST
Regional rep
WEST COAST -- Where "working-class millionaires" struggle to make ends meet
EAST COAST -- The "Least" Coast
EDGE -- EAST COAST
Chances of marrying a tech gazillionaire
WEST COAST -- High, especially if you hang around golf and yacht clubs
EAST COAST -- Low, unless you meet him or her while still a grad student
EDGE -- WEST COAST
Must-have tech exec clothing items
WEST COAST -- T-shirt, jeans, Teva sandals, leather jacket, messenger bag
EAST COAST -- Blue Oxford shirt, khaki pants, deck shoes, ski jacket, briefcase
EDGE -- WEST COAST
Hip-hop rivalries
WEST COAST -- Snoop Dogg, Suge Knight, Dr. Dre
EAST COAST -- Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, Jay-Z, 50 Cent
EDGE -- Tie (Can't we all just get along!)
WINNER: WEST COAST!
SOURCES:
CIO.com;
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco;
Gaebler.com;
Payscale.com;
CNNMoney.com;
Wikipedia.
