There's New Haven, Connecticut. It's got Yale University and a bunch of biotech companies. The downtown is greatly improved and offers a variety of delicious restaurants. The housing prices are pretty cheap too. Not so many software companies though, so that might be an issue.
Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
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Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#62Wellington , New Zealand. Totally rules.
What's great about Wellington for hackers?
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
And you aren't even thinking about Corvallis? I mean Eugene and Corvallis both have most of the features you listed, plus you're an hour away from the coast and from the mountains... For those looking to plug in to the Willamette Valley Tech social networks http://barcamp.org/BeaverBarCamp is coming up on March 1st in Corvallis.
I've been armchair-surfing the Portland tech scene. This blog about the PDX tech scene is interesting.. http://siliconflorist.com/ "Calagator, the community project designed to give Portland one tech calendar to rule them all, has quickly begun to show signs of progress. In fact, events have begun populating the calendar already." http://calagator.org/ I didn't know Oregon (Corvallis) had such a vibrant technology cu…
Corvallis has Hewlett-Packard. And a couple smaller companies. I'm not sure if it could be called vibrant...I lived there, but I'm always rather out of it.
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#64If you like southern Oregon, but want better job options, it's tough to imagine how you could do much better than Portland. There are plenty of big tech employers along the 26 corridor, great mass transit and bike access, and an increasingly-vibrant startup culture.
True, there aren't the same number of overnight paper millionaires being minted as in SF or NY, but you can still house and feed a family on 60K a year.
We've got an up-and-coming restaurant scene, and some of the best beer in the country, too. I find it a pretty nice mix.
It does rain a lot. I'm usually too busy coding, cooking, or biking through traffic to care, though.
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#65I can vouch for other people's vote for Madison, WI. I just moved here a few months ago after a brief stint in Richmond, VA, and a life in (or near) Chicago.
I am really enjoying the vibe of this often forgotten city, and and really impressed with how diverse the terrain is in the state (considering its the midwest).
I've met some guys from a video game startup, and a good number of people from the big software company in town EPIC.
Certainly the cost of living here is pretty fantastically reasonable. I bought my first house here!
email me or message me on skype (same as my name on here) if you care to learn more about Madison :-)
I'm actually looking to start a Jelly or something here, so I can try meet other entrepreneurs.
Good Luck!
I'd love to meet bilbo or anyone else here in Madison :-)
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#66Copenhagen is a great place. I'll buy you a beer if you go here :-)
Sipping beer on a nearby hilltop... :-)
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#67Somerville, MA fits the bill pretty well, for sufficiently small values of "decent climate".
I have to agree. As a Mass hacker working for a small software company, the Somerville/Cambridge area is quite nice. Although the climate can be, and I am being as frank as possible, unbearably shitty, it is a nice place.
In the past 24 hours we've had... rain, thunderstorm, sleet, hail, and snow. "Unbearably shitty" is an understatement at times...
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
This probably is moving away from what davidw was asking, but here's my quick guide to Austin. The 6th street advice depends on who you are. If you are looking for live music, definitely 6th St. and the clubs on Red River. If you want cheaper drinks (like $1 Rum and Cokes of low quality), want to party with more of college-age crowd, are single and looking for attractive women, you will be very happy there. Very litt…
Agree with all of the above. Cool to see another Austinite here.
Austin has all the ingredients to be a great place for startups, with maybe the exception of a good investor climate. VC money seems dried up except for Austin Ventures, and the angels are conservative by SV standards. But regardless, its just about my favorite place.
Please shoot me an email if you'd ever like to chat startups (email in my profile)
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#69Why not live in the bay area, enjoy all of the awesomeness, and opt out of the "rat race"?
housing is insane around in here. 800k buys you a shack. Unless you were either 1 Rich, 2.Cashed out huge amount of option shares 3.Gettin in debt out of your eyeballs, it is hard to afford a decent house with a normal salary. I like Berkeley, and SF, but still, living around in here is very expensive.
Re: Ask YC: Mid-sized, livable, hacker-friendly towns?
#70Florida: There are some very pretty places in & around Orlando. There are tons of heavy-tech firms like Lockeed and Disney. I remember a few years ago that they were trying to whip up a "biotech hub", too. Scripps-Howard is setting up something in Boca Raton.
no f ucking way. Orlando is just a huge boring strip mall. Disneyland is a rip-off. And those firms, are really just megacorporates where only code monkeys work.