"My main frame of reference for my local surroundings was a poster my dad picked up in the '80s at an electronics store: a cartoon map highlighting the region’s noteworthy companies. Was Silicon Valley an idea, a spirit, a corporate hub, or an actual place? Was this where I was from?" —Hua Hsu
Places JournalRoute 85 now inspires dread in California commuters, but some will remember when it was a vision of the future. For those who grew up in Silicon Valley in the 1980s, change seemed self-evident. How often do we recognize the uniqueness of our circumstances? From New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu: