David Packard's garage, Palo Alto, the birthplace of Silican Valley.

America’s Dream Factory used to be Hollywood, but it’s Silicon Valley now, a place where science and tech push furiously toward the future, untouched even by severe global economic woes. From “Bubble Boys,” Christopher Beam’s smart New York magazine article about a world of big ideas and even bigger money:

“Right this minute, Silicon Valley is America’s opposite: House prices are soaring and demand for young talent far outstrips supply. The ongoing cyberspace race between Facebook, Apple, and Google, among others, means computer engineers enjoy more freedom—and power—than ever before. The barriers to entry for web programming are almost nonexistent. Angel investors are blessing start-ups left and right, and launching a software company is cheaper than ever. Do I take the offer from Google, or take the venture capital to start my own thing? Only in this one little quadrant do people have the luxury to ask such questions. For ­Feross [Aboukhadijeh], the son of a schoolteacher and a Syrian-born electrical engineer, the forecast is bright, though indistinct. He may become the next Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs; he may not. But while most of the country is in economic darkness, the American Dream is beaming bright in Palo Alto.”