Now that the tech bust is a fading memory, the San Franciso Bay Area has reemerged from the ashes to challenge New York as the most important city/region in the United States.

New York has 3 primary assets that have kept them head and shoulders above the other major cities.

1) Wall Street (the financial center of the world)
2) Huge Dense Population
3) News Media (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.)

Wall Street is rocking again. Private equity and hedge funds are the decade's financial heroes (similar to the Sand Hill VC's in the 90's).

So with NY are hot as it is, why is San Francisco a threat to take over NY in importance?

To paraphrase James Carville, "It's the technology, stupid." The power of blogs and real-time breaking news (particularly in technology) is being driven from San Francisco. Michael Arrington's TechCrunch and Om Mallik's GigaOM are getting the scoops on the latest tech deals and breaking news. Also, TechCrunch and GigaOM are the new launching pads for exciting new technology companies.

User generated sites like digg are providing news consumers with an alternative to the traditional news channels. Google and Yahoo! are providing a way for advertisers to go direct to consumers versus Madision Avenue ad agencies. Young adults are spending more time on YouTube, MySpace (Southern California), and FaceBook than the 500 channels on TV.

To use a sports analogy, NY has the power and experience (see also money and history), while upstart San Francisco has the speed and finesse (technology and innovation). Now if only the Giants can beat the Yankees in the World Series - Peter MacGowan, are you reading this?