Victoria on the Rise

Victoria's climate is the undisputed northern champ. It's a ferry ride away from Vancouver and Seattle. It plays host to a top ranked Canadian university. There are more coffee shops and organic-based restaurants than fast food joints. It offers unlimited physical recreation. Essentially, Victoria has all the makings of a North American technology mecca, yet too often it's mild temperature mimics it's mild temperament.

Victoria flies under the radar amidst the surrounding tech mega-cities. In the past, it has gone unnoticed in the eyes of the emerging "Creative Class" (arguably the key to any cities future economic growth). Times appear to be changing though, and Victoria is showing signs of potential.

According to a recent study commissioned by the Victoria Advanced Technology Council (Viatec), "Revenue in Victoria's technology sector has roughly doubled since 2000."

The report claims that the city generated $1.95 billion from the technology sector in 2008 alone, and that technology has now surpassed tourism as the city's premier revenue contributor.

MoneySense's "Best Places to Live 2009" sheds some light on the issue as well. The overwhelming deterrent for setting up shop in Victoria seems to be the cost of living. It ranks 145 out of 154 cities in terms of "average house price" and "time to buy a house". Average house price totals a staggering $444k, beating out Ottawa ($272k), Halifax ($234k), Calgary ($362k), and even Toronto ($387k).

Victoria makes up for cost of living in other areas. It ranks #1 in terms of "overall places to live", dominates "days below freezing" (52.6 days annually), and is a leader in "% of population who bike or walk to work" (16%). There's a university, college, hospital and it scores well in the Buzz category (% of population employed in culture, arts, and sports).

In Paul Graham's essay "How to be Silicon Valley", he speaks about a cities growth based on it's attractiveness to start-ups. Graham talks about the key components of building a local tech community.