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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?

#31

Post by meritt »

chris_va wrote: post #7

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.

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

#33

Post by voxic11 »

djb_hackernews wrote: post #30

Boston/Cambridge is hot but there has always been a strong tech scene here so it's not so much up and coming. Cambridge is on top of their game, Boston is doing really well despite its city government. The issue with the Boston area is your COL is about the same as SF but your standard of living is a bit lower due to the usual culprits (NIMBY, poor govt leadership, New England conservatism, etc) and just plainly the…

I would point out that there are many cheap places within the greater Boston area. I pay 1,800 for a three bedroom in Somerville. It's only a 10 minute walk from a redline station that will get you anywhere in the city quite fast. You are totally right about the actual quality of the places available though. Anything cheap will be 50-150 years old.

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

#34

Post by TallGuyShort »

Balgair wrote: post #26

Make sure to skip Denver. Nothing but stoners and Peyton fans. Terrible place to live.

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 especially since legalization, but less so than the Bay Area most of the time.

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

#35

Post by TallGuyShort »

chris_va wrote: post #7

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,…

FWIW Boulder and Denver are within reasonable commuting distance and both have their share of tech companies near them. If you're considering Denver, I would focus on Boulder instead, but wouldn't rule either one out right away.

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

#36

Post by theli0nheart »

My wife and I moved to Austin from LA about 3 years ago, and haven't looked back. Prices are climbing here (as they are everywhere else), but since the city is growing, the number of desirable areas continues to increase. I'd highly recommend coming here. The city has a very laid-back culture, and despite being relatively large, still isn't really overwhelming like other big cities can be.

Our key reasons for coming here:

    1. Cost of living.
    2. No state income tax.
    3. Laid-back culture.
    4. Warm weather.*
Plus, you can't beat the BBQ.

* I feel required to add a qualifier to this bullet point, since so many people cite 100°F summer days as a reason to not move here. I grew up in Miami, where it's humid to a fault, and 80° days there are about as uncomfortable as 100°+ in Austin. The heat really isn't that bad.

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

#37

Post by prime09 »

deanEkko wrote: post #18
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 Minneapolis. I moved out of the city itself some years ago for more space out in the country, but it is by far the nicest place I've ever lived. I found myself wishing I had moved there 10 years earlier.

Another +1 Minneapolis. Just moved last year, cost of housing is so much less and it's a great city with a lot to do year round. A small but successful and growing startup scene. It's the 16 largest metro area in the US so there are a lot of local tech jobs. If you can score a remote job earning SF/SV salaries and live in Minneapolis, even the better...

+1 I moved from San Jose to Minneapolis last fall and couldn't be happier.

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

#38

Post by Cshelton »

edwhitesell wrote: post #12

My wife and I lived in Dallas for 5 years, then spent 18 months in the Seattle area before deciding to move back to Dallas. Cost of living was _the_ deciding factor. Tech jobs are very easy to come by and the tech scene in Dallas has been steadily growing over the last 7+ years.

+1 for Dallas.

I would consider Dallas over Austin, just from the sheer growth and potential Dallas has. The tech/startup scene has exploded over the last 3 years. No state income tax, low cost of living. Dallas also has the highest growth percentage in the nation, it was 2nd behind Houston but the oil market killed that real quick, so Dallas is on top. Literally all of my friends are from Seattle, Denver, California, D.C., NYC...etc. You would not be alone moving here...everyone else it too.

Also the central location is super nice, I'm a ~3 hours or less flight from almost anywhere in the Continental US.

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

#39

Post by meddlepal »

djb_hackernews wrote: post #30

Boston/Cambridge is hot but there has always been a strong tech scene here so it's not so much up and coming. Cambridge is on top of their game, Boston is doing really well despite its city government. The issue with the Boston area is your COL is about the same as SF but your standard of living is a bit lower due to the usual culprits (NIMBY, poor govt leadership, New England conservatism, etc) and just plainly the…

I do not think Boston/Cambridge CoL is anywhere close to SF/SV. Maybe if you want to live right in Downtown Crossing, Kendall Square, Back Bay or the South End (not the same as South Boston which is totally different for those who have limited familiarity with the city). It's certainly not anywhere nearly as expensive if you're living in Somerville, Eastie, Dorchester etc. For about $1500-$1800 you can rent a place to yourself which is likely walking or biking distance to your office. Try doing that in SF.

Our state government is a corrupt mess, but so are a lot of state governments. I tend to think the city governments are pretty good. Cambridge and Boston both seem to have their shit together right now.

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

#40

Post by atomic77 »

In Canada, Montreal is a great city with reasonable living costs and a decent tech scene (esp game development). Climate will probably scare away anyone not originally from the east coast or midwest though.

Toronto and Vancouver, despite having some pluses, unfortunately can't be recommended to anyone that cares about cost of housing.

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