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Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

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Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#281

Post by eclipxe »

sheri wrote: post #185
eclipxe wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The atmosphere here is, I dunno, toxic. Too many people here size each other up based on where they work and where they live and people are way too obsessed with advancing their careers and chasing higher salaries, more luxurious cars, nicer apartments, etc. Everyone seems to have some sort of inferiority complex if they don't work for the "Big 4". People in Davis/Sac seemed less superficial and it was a lot easier…

> Is this your own set of insecurities being projected on others? I never got that sense in SV... I am not the OP, but I share his/her views. To the above point, maybe? I used to perceive NY/Wall-Street as all about image, and SF/tech-scene to be much more down-to-earth and friendly. I don't find that anymore. Taking Caltrain, I see people wearing Google/FB/Twitter/XXX t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, bags etc. Compan…

Or maybe they just don't care to buy sweatshirts, jackets, bags, when they get them for free from their company? Who cares what people wear on CalTrain??!?

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#282

Post by Hydraulix989 »

Johnny555 wrote: post #264
Hydraulix989 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved away from Seattle to the Bay Area partly because it was so damn depressing. My company-sponsored doctor gave me a bottle full of two _GRAM_ pills of Vitamin D, and she said she has had to give it to most of her patients. In the dead thick of the winter, it gets dark at 3 PM (after a 10 AM sunrise), and the rain literally never stops. When it's not raining, it's misting, and it will go weeks on end with everla…

Vitamin D is typically dosed in I.U., not grams. 2000 I.U. is 50 micrograms. The max recommended daily dose is 10000 IU (but people have taken higher doses). 2 grams would be 80 million IU.

Good catch, units must have been IU then and not g.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#283

Post by tomcam »

sjg007 wrote: post #105
halpme wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you actually go out and talk to people? The first thing anyone asks is what you do, followed by which company you work for. Watch people's reactions change depending on the reputation of your company. The whole social scene here is centered around networking, not making meaningful relationships. No one cares if you're a chill person with cool hobbies, but if you work at then you become one more inside connection w…

I lived in LA and the first thing you learn there is to not ask what anyone does because everyone's an actor.

OTOH the best way to make anyone, and I mean anyone, in LA happy is to ask them how their screenplay is going.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#284

Post by tomcam »

sjg007 wrote: post #105
halpme wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you actually go out and talk to people? The first thing anyone asks is what you do, followed by which company you work for. Watch people's reactions change depending on the reputation of your company. The whole social scene here is centered around networking, not making meaningful relationships. No one cares if you're a chill person with cool hobbies, but if you work at then you become one more inside connection w…

I lived in LA and the first thing you learn there is to not ask what anyone does because everyone's an actor.

OTOH the best way to make anyone, and I mean anyone, in LA happy is to ask them how their screenplay is going.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#285

Post by nostrademons »

halpme wrote: post #94
eclipxe wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The atmosphere here is, I dunno, toxic. Too many people here size each other up based on where they work and where they live and people are way too obsessed with advancing their careers and chasing higher salaries, more luxurious cars, nicer apartments, etc. Everyone seems to have some sort of inferiority complex if they don't work for the "Big 4". People in Davis/Sac seemed less superficial and it was a lot easier…

Do you actually go out and talk to people? The first thing anyone asks is what you do, followed by which company you work for. Watch people's reactions change depending on the reputation of your company. The whole social scene here is centered around networking, not making meaningful relationships. No one cares if you're a chill person with cool hobbies, but if you work at then you become one more inside connection w…

You're looking in the wrong places. If you want to meet people with interesting niche hobbies, meet them in the niche. If you like rock climbing, go to a climbing gym. If you like building hardware, go to TechShop or Maker Faire. If you're into martial arts, there are some great Krav Maga gyms in the Bay Area. Or you could always hang out with the people in your company - no comparing yourself based on where you work for there, because you all work for the same place.

The networking scene is for networking, so of course it's filled with careerists. The coffeeshop scene is largely the same (though occasionally you meet one of the local students), since "let's grab coffee" is Silicon Valley shorthand for "I would like to assess your usefulness to my future career goals."

But there are many other scenes in the Bay Area. My wife ran the local Peace Corps alumni chapter for a while, so I end up hanging out with a lot of very interesting do-gooder international development types. I still get together for pizza with a bunch of my old Googler friends, even though I left almost 2 years ago. There are plenty of very authentic startup founder types around too, ones who aren't in it for a quick buck but because it's what they do and have been doing for 15-20 years now.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#286

Post by grogenaut »

grimberg wrote: post #149
bkjelden wrote: post #25

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…

They say Seattle is like a beautiful women (or man) who is sick 9 months of the year.

Seattle is ugly and garbage. It rains 100% of the year and there is never sunlight. It's full of homeless heroin addicts and has a super huge crime level. Stay very very far away.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#287

Post by grogenaut »

SeaDude wrote: post #277
drblast wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seattle weather is horrible. Traffic is horrible. Housing prices are rising to insane levels. Everyone is depressed. Please don't come here.

\Second that

Third that. There's nothing good about Seattle. Stay out. It's a small stupid city don't know why anyone comes here ever. Stop coming here. Except for PAX, you can come then.

Actually no, too many people at PAX too, stay away. Sasquash will eat you.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#288

Post by grogenaut »

calbear81 wrote: post #154
kelukelugames wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Where are you going for Indian and Chinese food? There's Din Tai Fung / Facing East in Bellevue and some of my old haunts in the International District are passable. Not as familiar with the Indian food scene outside of some places in East Bellevue/Redmond but you should also try Edmonds/Lynwood for Korean food.

Facing east, the prices are great because we don't pay our taxes (apparently)!

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#289

Post by nostrademons »

sheri wrote: post #185
eclipxe wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The atmosphere here is, I dunno, toxic. Too many people here size each other up based on where they work and where they live and people are way too obsessed with advancing their careers and chasing higher salaries, more luxurious cars, nicer apartments, etc. Everyone seems to have some sort of inferiority complex if they don't work for the "Big 4". People in Davis/Sac seemed less superficial and it was a lot easier…

> Is this your own set of insecurities being projected on others? I never got that sense in SV... I am not the OP, but I share his/her views. To the above point, maybe? I used to perceive NY/Wall-Street as all about image, and SF/tech-scene to be much more down-to-earth and friendly. I don't find that anymore. Taking Caltrain, I see people wearing Google/FB/Twitter/XXX t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, bags etc. Compan…

I think you're reading into this based on how the rest of the world operates. Most techies in Silicon Valley wear company schwag because it's free. My wardrobe consists of (or has consisted of, my wife made me throw a bunch of the older stuff out) T-shirts from Amherst, Brandeis, and Olin; a TellApart T-shirt; a Medallia T-shirt; a Microsoft T-shirt; a Foliage Software Systems T-shirt; at least 6 Google T-shirts; 2 Google hoodies; and then a bunch of unbranded stuff I got as gifts. I don't think I've ever bought a T-shirt with my own money.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#290

Post by grogenaut »

HelloMcFly wrote: post #52

Well, I'll give a plug for a different city: Atlanta. My wife and I moved from Atlanta to Seattle a few years back, and while we love the PNW we're definitely looking forward to moving back this summer. Seattle is wonderful, but the traffic has gotten noticeably worse since we've been here, and housing just never worked for us. Atlanta has a lot of opportunity, including in the tech space. It's no Seattle or SF, obvi…

Lol, Atlanta vs Seattle thread is not one I thought to encounter today. Good read!
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