12-21-2018, 11:41 AM
I think that the general behaviour of companies and people in the tech industry right now is that a significant percentage leave. Most of those who leave are those who came for school or work and are already transient. Very few organizations, if any, have published numbers on people who are born and raised here and go to school here and leave.
Over the past decade or two the rate of leaving by both entities has decreased, more people are staying here to work and more companies are staying here. It's a virtuous circle, people start doing great things here and that attracts more people. But it's not a rapid cycle at all. The rate of change is very slow and a lot of great people come here and leave, and a lot of companies have to open additional offices in Toronto, SF or other metropolitan tech hubs. Production in the region, sales in a city is an increasingly common model and that split does have positive aspects (it's Terminal's model, Square and Faire and Shopify all have built local offices due to regional talent) but the degree to which it's sustainable is unknown and motions by the government for improved connections to Toronto are absolutely part of the formula those companies use when making decisions about whether or not to come here or expand operations here.
My opinion is that all-day two-way trains between Kitchener and waterloo would have been a significant catalyst for growth. Without it the community won't suffer too greatly - there's a lot of reasons to come and stay here, more every day. But we won't grow as quickly as we could have, and more great people and companies will leave over the next 5-10 years than would have if the trains were in place. There's a very real opportunity cost that is difficult to measure, but non-trivial.
Over the past decade or two the rate of leaving by both entities has decreased, more people are staying here to work and more companies are staying here. It's a virtuous circle, people start doing great things here and that attracts more people. But it's not a rapid cycle at all. The rate of change is very slow and a lot of great people come here and leave, and a lot of companies have to open additional offices in Toronto, SF or other metropolitan tech hubs. Production in the region, sales in a city is an increasingly common model and that split does have positive aspects (it's Terminal's model, Square and Faire and Shopify all have built local offices due to regional talent) but the degree to which it's sustainable is unknown and motions by the government for improved connections to Toronto are absolutely part of the formula those companies use when making decisions about whether or not to come here or expand operations here.
My opinion is that all-day two-way trains between Kitchener and waterloo would have been a significant catalyst for growth. Without it the community won't suffer too greatly - there's a lot of reasons to come and stay here, more every day. But we won't grow as quickly as we could have, and more great people and companies will leave over the next 5-10 years than would have if the trains were in place. There's a very real opportunity cost that is difficult to measure, but non-trivial.