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Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

nytimes.com

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Re: Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

#261

Post by hiou »

pera wrote: post #71
wfo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seattle has never been particularly welcoming to newcomers; people there tend to be insular and it can be hard to make friends if you don't already know people (even before the amazon/tech stuff -- plenty of articles about 'the seattle freeze' that predate it). Being from there helps. Not being in tech helps -- there are so many new software engineers meeting one just isn't very interesting. You can hardly blame peop…

I keep reading all these scary stories about how unwelcoming people from Seattle is; I moved here back in February and my experience until now have been completely the opposite: almost every Seattleite I meet is super friendly and talkative, at the point that it feels almost like being in a small town. Maybe I am just lucky? but I think Seattle is one of the coolest cities in the US, except of course for the traffic.

It very much depends on if you fit the Seattle type. The reality is that Seattle and the Northwest in general is very hostile to people who are different from the norm there. If you happen to line up with that it's a great place to be. If not it can be uncomfortable.

Re: Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

#262

Post by rayiner »

oldmanjay wrote: post #173
ForHackernews wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may not have inherited great wealth directly, but it's a fair guess that you "inherited" some or all of the following: * Parents who pushed you to focus on your schoolwork. * Parents who owned a computer, or bought a computer specifically for their kids' education. * Parents who lived in a house with consistent water, electricity and internet service. * Parents who made sure you got glasses if you needed them, so…

Sure, ascribe everything to luck, and then so what? Where does that leave us? With less of an appetite for technology and progress? With more of a use for people who have no salable skills and hungry mouths and envy for the good life? Or does it just leave us with a bunch of people who contribute nothing more to society than constantly exclaiming that things aren't fair? We know they aren't fair. They've never been f…

Where does that leave us? With humility hopefully. You don't deserve any credit for being born with a high IQ, aptitude for acquiring sellable skills, and into a life station where any of that mattered. You work hard, sure, but so does the farmer in Bangladesh. The only difference between him and you is the cosmic lottery. So get off your high horse about "contributing to society." All you should feel is grateful that $Diety gave you the gift of being able to do that.

Re: Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

#263

Post by Nicholas_C »

mattress wrote: post #9

Took a job in Bellevue in April and moved from Philadelphia to Seattle. So far it's a been an interesting experience. I've encountered many people hostile to software engineers in general. A bunch of people immediately ask if I work for Amazon with a hint of disdain after I state my occupation. So it hasn't felt super welcoming so far. I get it, even in some neighborhoods in Philadelphia the same thing is happening.…

This has started happening in Austin. Many of my friends still live there and are constantly posting on social media about how people need to stop moving to Austin. These comments are especially made towards those from California.

Re: Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

#264

Post by mc32 »

mattress wrote: post #9

Took a job in Bellevue in April and moved from Philadelphia to Seattle. So far it's a been an interesting experience. I've encountered many people hostile to software engineers in general. A bunch of people immediately ask if I work for Amazon with a hint of disdain after I state my occupation. So it hasn't felt super welcoming so far. I get it, even in some neighborhoods in Philadelphia the same thing is happening.…

It's funny to see the no California stickers and sentiments plastered in Seattle and Portland.

It's funny and also strange in that the people with such attitudes are the same kinds of people who used to post other no [immigrant group] but people don't get as outraged, somehow this sentiment is deserved. Like me, most people think it's funny.

Yet, this is just the same phobia and fear of newcomers -new comers who are going to ruin the neighborhood, but instead of driving the prices down causing wealth flight they drive housing upwards.

Re: Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

#265

Post by ForHackernews »

sgustard wrote: post #202
pm90 wrote: post #12

> John Criscitello placed posters in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood proclaiming “Welcome! Rich Kids,” and “Wish you weren’t here.” Its hard not to feel angry at people like this. "Rich Kids" really? These "Kids" spent years developing their engineering skills to get to the point where they are now. Are engineers paid a lot? Of course. But we're certainly not in the same category as those who inherit wealth. Most…

He's not targeting engineers. He's targeting yuppies, fraternity punks, late-night bar hoppers, Yelp-adoring foodies, crowds of drunk people in baseball caps with money to burn standing in line for hipster restaurants and nightclubs, shouting and pissing in the streets at 2am. That's the crowd that invades your city like a plague when it becomes a trendy destination.

> yuppies

What makes you think that yuppies and engineers are disjoint sets?

Re: Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

#266

Post by optimiz3 »

rayiner wrote: post #262
oldmanjay wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, ascribe everything to luck, and then so what? Where does that leave us? With less of an appetite for technology and progress? With more of a use for people who have no salable skills and hungry mouths and envy for the good life? Or does it just leave us with a bunch of people who contribute nothing more to society than constantly exclaiming that things aren't fair? We know they aren't fair. They've never been f…

Where does that leave us? With humility hopefully. You don't deserve any credit for being born with a high IQ, aptitude for acquiring sellable skills, and into a life station where any of that mattered. You work hard, sure, but so does the farmer in Bangladesh. The only difference between him and you is the cosmic lottery. So get off your high horse about "contributing to society." All you should feel is grateful tha…

  bool is_other_person_is_humble()
  {
    return do_they_make_less_money_than_me();
  }

Re: Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

#267

Post by nice_byte »

kpennell wrote: post #107

I don't know if I ever really saw Seattle's 'soul' when I lived there for 3 years. Granted, I lived in the North part. I saw a lot of white and asian people (mainly dudes) looking at their feet or looking at their phones. Seattle is one of the most difficult places to strike up a conversation with strangers or get people to actually want to hang out (worse if they are locals). South Seattle, on the other hand, truly…

I find it interesting how you care about a person's race so much.

Re: Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

#268

Post by nickv »

alain94040 wrote: post #16
geebee wrote: post #7

It's fascinating and sad to read these articles, about some cities struggling with the effects of tech wealth while other cities would see it as an almost unqualified boon. We constantly hear about a desperate shortage of software engineers from tech companies, as well as talk of "six figure" salaries. But the median price for housing in SF is well over a million now, and if you're hoping to have kids and raise a fam…

housing in SF is well over a million now, and if you're hoping to have kids and raise a family Why isn't a nice condo in Mountain View for $700K good enough? 1,300 sq.ft is plenty of space to live. For instance http://www.mlslistings.com/property/ml81517677/1945-mount-ve...

Pretty much nothing in Mountain View goes for "asking price". I strongly bet that place will go for near $1M. The Zestimate (http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1945-Mount-Vernon-Ct-APT-1...) is $800k, and zillow estimates for that area are notoriously low.

Re: Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

#269

Post by PhasmaFelis »

JesperRavn wrote: post #246
eastbayjake wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The #1 dating horror story among women I've dated in SF is the introverted engineer who could only talk about work, engineering, or video games and otherwise required Charlie Rose levels of questioning to engage on other topics. I'm wondering if I can get funding for a Personality-as-a-Service startup in SF.

Yet another way that privileged White males from the tech industry oppress women.

I spent about a second wondering if you were being serious or sarcastic, then I realized that I was gonna downvote you either way, so it didn't matter.

Re: Seattle, in Midst of Tech Boom, Tries to Keep Its Soul

#270

Post by PhasmaFelis »

eastbayjake wrote: post #152
mosdave wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and avoiding talking about work entirely fuck, is this not SOP for everyone? conversation order of operations: work < people < things < ideas

The #1 dating horror story among women I've dated in SF is the introverted engineer who could only talk about work, engineering, or video games and otherwise required Charlie Rose levels of questioning to engage on other topics. I'm wondering if I can get funding for a Personality-as-a-Service startup in SF.

I wonder how many of those engineers have horror stories about women who can only talk about and refuse to discuss anything interesting, like engineering or video games.
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