The Raleigh/Durham/Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina is nice: lots of tech, good weather, and salaries seem pretty good.
Ask HN: Where to move within US?
11–20 of 41 posts
Re: Ask HN: Where to move within US?
#12Have you considered somewhere near Research Triangle Park in North Carolina? You've got a few mid sized cities to choose from or you can buy an acreage if that's what you're into. There are several tech companies around here as well as large universities. I haven't looked at the start up scene but I've heard there are a few startups based around here.
Re: Ask HN: Where to move within US?
#13Have you considered somewhere near Research Triangle Park in North Carolina? You've got a few mid sized cities to choose from or you can buy an acreage if that's what you're into. There are several tech companies around here as well as large universities. I haven't looked at the start up scene but I've heard there are a few startups based around here.
yea that option is also viable. Thx. Will look into it.
Re: Ask HN: Where to move within US?
#14A lot of people are moving to Austin, Portland, Seattle, and Denver/Boulder. No state income tax in Austin or Seattle, no sales tax in Portland. Home prices are rising in all of these areas, but are a bargain compared to the Bay Area or NYC. And you can still see a show, go to great restaurants, meet interesting people, find a good job, and have a livable amount of space for a family.
A place where you can get a cheap, large home, and pay no state income tax is Vancouver, Washington. The city itself isn't very interesting, but you are across the bridge from Portland, where there is a lot of great food and drink, and you can shop with no sales tax. You will rarely see snow, but you will see a lot of clouds/drizzle for much of the year, which can take its toll.
Austin has a lot of tech jobs and is sunny for much of the year, but brutally hot for at least 3-4 months if you aren't used to it. It's a fun place to live.
If you want more of a small nature town feel, you could try Bend, Oregon or Boulder, Colorado.
I have lived in Portland, Seattle, and Austin, and spent a lot of time working in SF, so let me know if you want more specifics on anything.
Re: Ask HN: Where to move within US?
#15Can I just say: Cost of living ONLY matters if you're compensated from out of state. A lot of people look at CoL and think "wow for the $120K I make in NYC I could live like a king in Oklahoma!" But the reality is that places with lower CoL also have lower salaries, so a $120K NYC salary might be $60K in other states, with the same job, same responsibilities, etc. It is relative. Oregon has a lowish CoL and a low amo…
I live in the Atlanta area. I could literally have the same job in the SF area (where I used to live) for 20% more - my company has an office in Palo Alto where there are people with the same job title and the same responsibilities. However this would more than be eaten up by the increased cost of housing. Say my take-home pay is 100 arbitrary units; my housing costs about 20, leaving 80 for everything else. In the Bay Area I'd make 120 but I'd pay at least twice as much (40+) for comparable housing, leaving 80 or less for everything else (and everything else costs more there). Salaries are higher in higher-cost markets but that difference usually doesn't make up for the cost of living difference.
Re: Ask HN: Where to move within US?
#16Consider Atlanta. Plenty of tech companies (although less startup-oriented and more corporate; whether you see that as good or bad is something you haven't elaborated on). Everything is cheap and the infrastructure is shitty. When it threatens snow flurries a couple times a year everybody freaks out and stays in and it's really easy to get to work. Summers aren't too bad if you're used to NJ; it doesn't really get _hotter_ here but it stays hot _longer_, and everything is air-conditioned well.
Re: Ask HN: Where to move within US?
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree with you. But cost of living is just one factor for us. We care about a peaceful environment, hopefully lower taxes (even if we make less ), decent infrastructure (in NJ, we have shitty roads with high cost).
To be honest I'd put Northern Utah on your list (Salt Lake area and north)). Low taxes, good infrastructure, low crime, nice people, growing startup culture, amazing for B2B startups, etc. Sure, there is a religious aspect which puts people off. But like it or not, that religious aspect makes everyone quite pleasant and makes the area a nice place to live (even for those who aren't of that specific denomination).
Experiences vary. Mormons, like many other groups, can be tribal and this can be hard for kids who will have a harder time fitting in.
Re: Ask HN: Where to move within US?
#18Cannot edit the text anymore. Just wanted to mention that I have a bootstrapped product that I run and ideally would love to stay closer to startup ecosystem. Of course, California is out of question again due to the excessive cost of living.
I would say Portland, Austin, and Seattle.
For startup ecosystem, Seattle probably has the best followed by Austin and then Portland.
For cost of living, Seattle is the most expensive. I'm not sure about Austin but Portland has been increasing the past couple years.
Re: Ask HN: Where to move within US?
#19There are some true hidden gems in the often over-looked 3rd tier Southern markets, especially in bang-for-the-buck livability...consider Asheville, NC & Franklin, TN > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/29/9-southern-towns-yo...
Re: Ask HN: Where to move within US?
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be honest I'd put Northern Utah on your list (Salt Lake area and north)). Low taxes, good infrastructure, low crime, nice people, growing startup culture, amazing for B2B startups, etc. Sure, there is a religious aspect which puts people off. But like it or not, that religious aspect makes everyone quite pleasant and makes the area a nice place to live (even for those who aren't of that specific denomination).
Experiences vary. Mormons, like many other groups, can be tribal and this can be hard for kids who will have a harder time fitting in.
I grew up here. For a long time, I thought that the "not fitting in" that I experienced in junior high and high school was because I wasn't Mormon. Eventually, I figured out that a big part of it was just that I was a nerd...