What didn't you like about the bay area? Mountain View or Sunnyvale seem to be the perfect fit for what you're looking for!
Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
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Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#22Why not live in the bay area, enjoy all of the awesomeness, and opt out of the "rat race"?
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#23You might want to consider Montreal, Quebec. It's a very lively city. It's more populated than what you're asking for (1.6M), but it has 4 universities, and the city itself is on a mountain (mount royal, not a very big mountain), which is itself on an island (the island of montreal). You can e-mail me if you want to know more about this city. iratsu at gmail dot com
Ah, La Belle Province. It's been 5 years since I moved to the US, but I still have to go home for some Poutine - it's just not the same when I make it at home.
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#24Two come to mind for me: Columbus, OH and Champaign, IL.
Champaign seems pretty close to what you're looking for, but it's definitely too flat. That's why I'm leaving.
Columbus has Ohio State right there, and is as booming as you're going to find in Ohio. It's a beautiful city for the size and there's a sizable tech industry there. It's a place I wouldn't hesitate to live, but I have yet to do my time in the bay area and look forward to trying that for a few years.
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#25Chicago, IL - or Evanston, Skokie which are around. Great place. No need to have car, unless you want to have it :-)
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#26Somerville, MA fits the bill pretty well, for sufficiently small values of "decent climate".
I lived in Cambridge, MA (Harvard Square in particular) for two years and would say that Somerville, Arlington, and Cambridge are all good places to check out. Boston and the surrounding area has become one of the leading centers for BioTech research, so that would be a big plus for your wife.
I currently live in Providence, RI which is about an hour south of Boston. Smaller hacker community, but at least there is one and its not to far from Boston either. We also have a growing BioTech industry thanks to Brown University. I have a friend that works at EpiVax and loves his job. Might be worth checking out.
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#27I live in Austin, TX and find its size to be manageable, although it is growing fast. Is that too large for you? It has the University of Texas, its in the 'Hill Country', and has a lot of smart and creative folks. I don't have a car and ride nothing but the Capital Metro bus. The average age is pretty young here, so there are a lot of parties and such, which is a plus for some but minus for others. You will like it…
Thanks for the info, I'm city shopping right now and I'm planning to check out Austin at SXSW. Any Austin tips for me? I try to avoid having a car at all costs, so it's good to know you've found that feasible.
Stay near 6th street!
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#28In the US any college town that size should fit the bill. It will be cheaper if not a suburb of a big city (Boulder is pretty expensive), and have a better climate if in the west. Portland might be the optimum.
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#29Two come to mind for me: Columbus, OH and Champaign, IL. Champaign seems pretty close to what you're looking for, but it's definitely too flat. That's why I'm leaving. Columbus has Ohio State right there, and is as booming as you're going to find in Ohio. It's a beautiful city for the size and there's a sizable tech industry there. It's a place I wouldn't hesitate to live, but I have yet to do my time in the bay area…
Columbus is a nice place to stay, as long as you don't mind the cold. I have been here for the past 4 years, and really like it. Its not too expensive, yet the city has a lot to offer, both socially and culturally. Having Ohio State's campus here brings a huge student population, and along with the working crowd in Columbus, makes for good balance.
Though I maybe I am missing what jmtulloss is trying to get to here... There is a sizeable tech industry, but from my experience, you have one of three options - work for a financial (bank/insurance) firm, work for the state, or work consulting. Not too many startups in Columbus.. either that, or I am ill-informed [I hope I am ill-informed :D]
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#30Pittsburgh, PA (Oakland, Squirrel Hill) is a great place. Housing close to the city can be found pretty cheap. CMU, Pitt Med School, RAND. It definitely has topography. Has a small biotech community.
I'm in Pittsburgh until I leave... the biotech community mostly consists of UPMC but they have a huge presence in the town. There are some medical device startups here but the lack of angel/VC funding minimizes the startup presence. Housing is very cheap here; it's one of the few housing markets in the country with the peculiar property that a monthly mortgage payment would be less than rent on an equivalent house. I…
+1 for the Squirrel Hill and Shadyside neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. Incredibly cheap housing, biotech jobs are numerous, and there's more capital available than you'd think. CMU & Pitt churn out lots of science and engineering students as well.
Major cons: cold winters (it hit the single digits recently), shitty road surfaces