Valley vs. AlleyPart of the difference is cultural: Silicon Valley has a stronger culture of risk-taking than New York City, says Zilberman. "It's simply a function of people with the right skill set and risk tolerance to work for a startup." 

Upon closer inspection it would seem that the Comptroller's own stats back Zilberman's point. Most of the job growth in New York, about 56,000 jobs specifically, were for designing, managing, and operating computer systems. Digital media like Internet publishing and broadcasting, web search and related services accounted for 15 percent of jobs, and has more than tripled since the recovery. Software publishing accounted for 2 percent of jobs, but that amount more than doubled over the past four years.

In other words, the employment growth isn't happening in areas heavy on engineering and new product development--jobs more likely to lead to innovation and starting up. 

"Innovation and creating great companies is all about the people--and Silicon Valley is special in that regard, because of the number of entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, and the culture that come together in a uniquely effective and creative way," says Ross Fubini, partner at Canaan Partners in Menlo Park, California.

And still is attracting many more of them. We've had ridiculous population growth the last few years.