Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#31

Post by Xcelerate » Mon, Jan 02, 2017, 5:35 AM UTC

Well, it depends. Do I have a remote job with all of the computational resources and salary I could possibly want? Then Asheville, North Carolina. Beautiful scenery, great food, plenty of high quality coffee shops, and close to family.

If "close to family" wasn't a factor then: San Francisco, Seattle, Lyon (France), Barcelona, and London (for a little while).

It's hard to beat the benefits of the massive tech ecosystem in SF. It would be nice if some of that ecosystem moved to the South. Chattanooga and Nashville are nice cities that I wouldn't mind living in either.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#32

Post by rsoto » Mon, Jan 02, 2017, 5:38 AM UTC

Hiroshima, I just love the city. Although I would certainly not work there, as the working conditions are a bit stressful.

I'll try to focus on my SaaS and have a nice, steady income to turn my dream true.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#33

Post by adpirz » Mon, Jan 02, 2017, 5:39 AM UTC

Xcelerate wrote: post #31

Well, it depends. Do I have a remote job with all of the computational resources and salary I could possibly want? Then Asheville, North Carolina. Beautiful scenery, great food, plenty of high quality coffee shops, and close to family. If "close to family" wasn't a factor then: San Francisco, Seattle, Lyon (France), Barcelona, and London (for a little while). It's hard to beat the benefits of the massive tech ecosyst…

Lived in Nashville for three years, fantastic city, lots of big city comforts in a navigable and manageable size, although I know it's going through some rapid expansion.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#34

Post by itake » Mon, Jan 02, 2017, 5:40 AM UTC

toodlebunions wrote: post #27

abhimskywalker wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please elaborate a little on "play your cards right"?

Be a good employee. Be valued. Be demonstrably more productive when you work from home. Etc

this ^. to add: Identifying a good company is also key. I work for a small startup and am currently the only senior backend developer. I think being 20% of the company and 100% of the backend helped my situation.

If you got a job at a large tech company, I suspect many wouldn't be as flexible. If you want to work for a large tech company, I would find out if they have any current remote workers.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#35

Post by morgante » Mon, Jan 02, 2017, 5:40 AM UTC

Hong Kong. I love the food, culture, and fantastic public transportation. It has a nice mix of Asian and British influences. The city has tons of energy and is always alive. Plus, despite being a huge metropolis, there are tons of hiking opportunities nearby in beautiful natural areas.

Unfortunately I'm not alone in loving it so real estate is crazy expensive (even more so than NYC/SF).

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#36

Post by madiathomas » Mon, Jan 02, 2017, 5:43 AM UTC

itake wrote: post #16

madiathomas wrote: post #15

Silicon Valley. High pay compared to where I stay. Companies based at Silicon Valley are working on interesting products. Developers in South Africa with University degree and 10 years experience and higher, earn less than $100k per annum. No startups working on interesting products here in SA also. You are stuck with big banks if you want to make money.

my $0.02 on this is you can work in SV for 6-12 mo, then if you play your cards right, you can transition into a remote role with your current employer. Myself and other friends have done this resulting in 6-fig salary anywhere we want to live.

That sounds like a very good plan. You get a Silicon Valley pay but a cheaper cost of living.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#37

Post by owenwil » Mon, Jan 02, 2017, 5:43 AM UTC

aroc wrote: post #29

Vancouver, BC. Supernatural beauty. Immediate access to incredible outdoors. Great food and cafe scene. Fantastic arts and music scene. Clean. One of the greenest (carbon footprint) cities in the world. Fantastic transit system. Fast growing technology sector. + all the benefits that come with being a Canadian city.

Totally agree! I'd move to Vancouver, BC in a heartbeat, but work out there can be hard to find.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#38

Post by JonoBB » Mon, Jan 02, 2017, 5:45 AM UTC

aroc wrote: post #29

Vancouver, BC. Supernatural beauty. Immediate access to incredible outdoors. Great food and cafe scene. Fantastic arts and music scene. Clean. One of the greenest (carbon footprint) cities in the world. Fantastic transit system. Fast growing technology sector. + all the benefits that come with being a Canadian city.

Can you explain we what you mean by "all the benefits that come with being a Canadian city" please?

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#39

Post by thenewwazoo » Mon, Jan 02, 2017, 5:49 AM UTC

Xcelerate wrote: post #31

Well, it depends. Do I have a remote job with all of the computational resources and salary I could possibly want? Then Asheville, North Carolina. Beautiful scenery, great food, plenty of high quality coffee shops, and close to family. If "close to family" wasn't a factor then: San Francisco, Seattle, Lyon (France), Barcelona, and London (for a little while). It's hard to beat the benefits of the massive tech ecosyst…

As a southerner who has moved West, I contend that the South needs to fix a huge amount of its culture before there will be the thriving mix of industry and creativity you can find in cities like SF, Seattle, and Boston. Let's not forget that the south has not been the engine of the American economy since slavery was (de jure) abolished.

The South's peculiar mix of dominionism and right-wing fervor makes strange bedfellows of fundamentalists and rapacious capitalists. Low taxes starve infrastructure and the social safety net, and those are what drives stability. Without stability, entrepreneurialism cannot happen. Without entrepreneurialism, the closest you get are places like Austin and RTP: big, established companies moving people for tax reasons that does nothing to foster innovation.

Atlanta really should be the next big tech hub, but it won't be so long as the regressive politics and systemic racism of the south remain unaddressed. Charlotte would be great except that things like HB2 make the prospect of moving to NC a complete nonstarter for many in the already-marginalized LGBTQ population. The list goes on.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#40

Post by parthdesai » Mon, Jan 02, 2017, 5:49 AM UTC

JonoBB wrote: post #38

aroc wrote: post #29

Vancouver, BC. Supernatural beauty. Immediate access to incredible outdoors. Great food and cafe scene. Fantastic arts and music scene. Clean. One of the greenest (carbon footprint) cities in the world. Fantastic transit system. Fast growing technology sector. + all the benefits that come with being a Canadian city.

Can you explain we what you mean by "all the benefits that come with being a Canadian city" please?

As an immigrant living in Toronto, I would say people. I have never been to states, so you can tell me if i'm wrong or not but Canadian people are really helpful, polite and courteous. You don't notice it till you go out of Canada. Also as a brown person, i have never had a single incident of Racism here.