Through the booms and busts of the last 15 years, San Francisco has remained the financial hub of the innovative economy of Silicon Valley. The city has a population of just over 800,000, up about 4% from 2000.
''The city is just small, and I didn't think there was a whole lot going on there in terms of being able to compete against the New Yorks of the world, so when the data started coming in we were very surprised,'' said Pond of the Partnership for New York City. It's no shock that San Francisco scored well on innovation and intellectual capital. Or that its population was the most educated of any city in the study.
But San Francisco's reputation for progressive social policies belies a strong atmosphere for doing business and relatively inexpensive costs of living and business occupancy.
