151–160 of 392 posts
We can all go there & start a new tech scene. How about Wyoming? Or Montana? Utah?
What I mean is we should go somewhere beautiful. Somewhere we can take walks outdoors in between coding sprints.
Why walks? It's been scientifically shown that walking helps you remember things better. Also sitting too long shortens your lifespan.
Just some thoughts.
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This is pretty garbage advice. There are a lot of tech companies especially just south of downtown Denver, and a reasonable start up scene in Boulder. I get 20-30% of the quantity of recruiter emails from Denver / Boulder / Ft Collins companies compared to what I used to get in the Bay Area. It's a lot less, to be sure, but still sustainable for a good career. Good meet ups too. There are pockets of stoners especiall…
He's kidding... You must not live in CO? It's the line out here. Anti-town building, too many people are moving here already because it's so great, so spread the word that it's buried in snow, full of potheads and hippies. These are not the towns your looking for. Move along, move along.
I've been living in Mountain View for several years, but we're moving back to Boston in a month. We can get a house 3x as large for 2/3 the cost and have a much better quality of life.
If you like snow.
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And how do you cope with the weather and lack of sun? One big draw for me about the Bay Area is the weather. I realized how important nice weather was for me to be happy, so I consider the sunshine tax a sunk cost for my mental and physical well-being.
I grew up in Cupertino and live in Seattle now. I used to live in an apartment with very little natural light, that was awful. Now I live in a condo with tons of light and feel better. Also fly down to Bay Area once a month for work. Seattle weather isn't that bad. During June through September it's the best in the country. Just gray in the winters, doesn't really rain much. Some other cons. Negligible start up scene…
We just moved to Seattle from SF. Highly recommended, but as you say more expensive than Portland (still 1/2 the price of the bay area). Cost follows opportunity, and it is harder to find a tech scene in Portland. NYC is a great place to live (have done so), and I would pick it over Seattle (at least for a year or two) if you don't have kids, are young, and can afford it. Chicago is great, less tech than NYC/Seattle,…
> it is harder to find a tech scene in Portland I feel like you might just not know where to look. We have a very thriving tech scene and it's growing very fast. 4,045 job opening as of now. http://portlandtech.org/ http://calagator.org/ is a great resource for meetups, talks, round-tables, sessions, etc.
my vote goes to denver! affordable, laid back, socially liberal, safe, no huge social gap like in SF, very friendly people, great outdoors, growing tech startup ecosystem
Seattle's housing costs are definitely rising but Washington's lack of an income tax is a boon for software engineers. Also, many of the big players in tech will pay within 10-20% of their bay area total comp packages in Seattle, so your take home pay might be almost the same, but of course your dollar is going to go a lot further. I ran some numbers comparing Seattle, Denver, and Minneapolis, and found the descendin…
And how do you cope with the weather and lack of sun? One big draw for me about the Bay Area is the weather. I realized how important nice weather was for me to be happy, so I consider the sunshine tax a sunk cost for my mental and physical well-being.
Sometimes, I miss those dreary storm-grey clouds of the Pacific NW. "Nice weather" is subjective, and it isn't necessarily "sunny". I have a friend who burns badly in any kind of sunlight -- Seattle is where she makes her home.
Flagstaff, AZ, oddly, is like a miniature Seattle, though the tech scene isn't as happening. My family and I are planning to move there this summer.
I'm particularly biased as I went to school at GaTech but Atlanta has greatly improved over the last decade or so. It obviously has a completely different social, ethnic and economic diversity than SF does as well as being far far more cost effective. It also has real BBQ as well as being not that far from Miami (my favorite city but not good to live/work in). I would recommend Boston (where I currently live) except…
How come you consider Miami not a good city to live/work in? I live here and I'm genuinely curious.
Phoenix is often not included when discussing tech cities, and I think it's a shame. I've lived here my entire life and have seen the startup and tech scenes evolve and mature having started 2 companies here. Just in the past few years, the number of quality startups and investments have soared and I believe we're at the inflection point that will make Phoenix equitable to SV. We have a low cost of living, affordable…
Phoenix is often not included when discussing tech cities, and I think it's a shame I've spent time in Phoenix. It's the land of enormous roads and parking lots. It's almost impossible to get anywhere without a car. Traffic is horrendous all the time. There is barely a functioning downtown. The urban layout isn't conducive to the density necessary to really sustain light rail. Yes, I know about the line that goes fro…
Phoenix is not where I want to live. The tech scene is kinda anemic -- and granted, I'm used to Atlanta and Seattle.
Traffic isn't bad all the time, just the times when you want to go anywhere. Much of the city doesn't have good drainage, kinda poetic that the flow of traffic in Phoenix resembles the flooding that happens during monsoon season.
Like Atlanta, in Phoenix, you need a car. Unlike Atlanta, in Phoenix you also need A/C. It offends my sensibilities to see so much swimming pools and even an indoor ice rink in the middle of a desert. I don't generally like how the city is laid out, overbuilt, and I don't like the overall culture. (Though there are some really neat places here and there).
Want to put in a quick plug for Sacramento. Great quality of life here, generally great weather (sometimes a little hot in summer, but sunny most of the year), affordable housing with rents between $500 and $1,000 (and affordable to buy a house - still good places available for under $300k), nice neighborhoods, great amenities, bars, restaurants, all that. Good access to awesome outdoors. And really easy to get to th…
If you click my profile, you can email me and I hope you do. I wouldn't mind discussing the tech scene here, the city, etc, although I may end up working remotely.