I wonder sometimes if Silicon Valley really counts as a hyper-specialized region. True, much of the money in the area comes from businesses that are somehow attached to computer hardware or software, but within that sector, there's an incredible amount of variety in terms of tools, technologies, and client base.
Detroit is failing not just because its economy was driven by the automotive industry -- it was also dependent on a small number of employers (basically the Big Three automakers) who failed to compete with more agile, innovative foreign competitors.
There are certainly bigger players in the SV/Bay area whose disappearance would be felt painfully (Google, Apple, Oracle, etc.), but the business culture in the area also seems fairly able to turn collapses (SGI, AltaVista, Netscape, Sun) into opportunities, or at least mitigate the damage done.
Detroit is failing not just because its economy was driven by the automotive industry -- it was also dependent on a small number of employers (basically the Big Three automakers) who failed to compete with more agile, innovative foreign competitors.
There are certainly bigger players in the SV/Bay area whose disappearance would be felt painfully (Google, Apple, Oracle, etc.), but the business culture in the area also seems fairly able to turn collapses (SGI, AltaVista, Netscape, Sun) into opportunities, or at least mitigate the damage done.