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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?

#91
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I am a native of Minneapolis proper and I would say move here to South Minneapolis. The suburbs suck and are absolutely terrible unless upper middle class white bumpkins are your crowd. South Minneapolis and midtown are super cool and you can still buy in before full gentrification kicks in.

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

#92

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…

100F days are perfect days to spend in the pool though.

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

#93
post #2

NYC. Its still expensive obviously but more diverse. Not a mono-culture. Cold/long winters are not much fun. But there are nicer small classic american town in NY and Long Island, which can be affordable. Train commute is ok if you can work remote a couple days per week and get some work done on the trains. Beaches are close, skiing upstate is decent. Lots of opportunity in NYC/Brooklyn. A very nice home (4 bedroom,…

If you drink the Functional Programming Kool Aid, NYC & Boston are the places to be.

(I'm not being pejorative)

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

#94
post #57
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to UC Davis but would frequently visit Sac. It's such a beautiful and laid-back city, and the people are great. SF is only a one hour drive away and Lake Tahoe is relatively close too. I've been living in Mountain View for a couple months and I miss the Davis/Sac area more and more as time goes on. The atmosphere here is, I dunno, toxic. Too many people here size each other up based on where they work and wher…

>The atmosphere here is, I dunno, toxic. Too many people here size each other up based on where they work and where they live and people are way too obsessed with advancing their careers and chasing higher salaries, more luxurious cars, nicer apartments, etc. Everyone seems to have some sort of inferiority complex if they don't work for the "Big 4". People in Davis/Sac seemed less superficial and it was a lot easier…

Do you actually go out and talk to people? The first thing anyone asks is what you do, followed by which company you work for. Watch people's reactions change depending on the reputation of your company. The whole social scene here is centered around networking, not making meaningful relationships. No one cares if you're a chill person with cool hobbies, but if you work at then you become one more inside connection when someone needs a new job and a reference. YMMV.

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

#96
post #9

I just moved out of California to Las Vegas because of the housing prices. Las Vegas cost of living is easily half that of LA/SF, and there's no income taxes. This can especially be a boon if you're leaving a company where you're exercising ISO options (you can exercise once you move to Nevada, and not pay CA AMT tax). I wouldn't say there's a lot of tech jobs, but there are some, and if you're working remote, it's a…

Las Vegas is an awesome option for remote workers who want to be close to SV. It's a short, <$100 flight to SFO or OAK. No state income taxes. Fantastic weather (dry desert heat with almost no humidity). Very cheap housing and other COL. Access to the world's best entertainment. And pretty much wherever you live in town you're no more than 20 minutes from LAS which is an international airport serving tons of destinations.

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

#97

Minneapolis. - Affordable, great culture / food, low unemployment, tons of public companies, rapidly growing startup scene (100 meetup groups)...If you have kids it gets even better. The suburbs are amazing, with great parks, schools, etc. Work life balance is the norm.

Are there some pointers to the startup scene there? Every time I have checked recently its been off-shoring the IT in a lot of those public companies.

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

#98

Well, I'll give a plug for a different city: Atlanta. My wife and I moved from Atlanta to Seattle a few years back, and while we love the PNW we're definitely looking forward to moving back this summer. Seattle is wonderful, but the traffic has gotten noticeably worse since we've been here, and housing just never worked for us. Atlanta has a lot of opportunity, including in the tech space. It's no Seattle or SF, obvi…

Of course this is all a matter of personal preference, but as a former Atlantan, I'm going to disagree.

My main gripes with the metro Atlanta area were:

-The traffic, which was the worst of any major city I've ever spent time in, and yes, I've spent time in L.A., New York, and D.C.

-Bland environment/lack of character. What I mean by this is that you're basically in a landlocked area that is best known for launching Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-a, and CNN. Not much unusual stuff to do in the area, so boredom can come on quickly.

-Full of transplants. For every person I knew who grew up in the area, I knew at least four that were from other states. This made the culture very boring and support for sports teams, etc. non-existent.

To be clear, there are many good things about Atlanta- it's close to Nashville which is awesome, and you're a short flight to a lot of great places. Also, the cost of living is fantastic for a major city. There are a number of beautiful lakes and lots of greenery in the area as well. But all things considered, it can get pretty boring.

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

#99
post #9

I just moved out of California to Las Vegas because of the housing prices. Las Vegas cost of living is easily half that of LA/SF, and there's no income taxes. This can especially be a boon if you're leaving a company where you're exercising ISO options (you can exercise once you move to Nevada, and not pay CA AMT tax). I wouldn't say there's a lot of tech jobs, but there are some, and if you're working remote, it's a…

Las Vegas is an awesome option for remote workers who want to be close to SV. It's a short, <$100 flight to SFO or OAK. No state income taxes. Fantastic weather (dry desert heat with almost no humidity). Very cheap housing and other COL. Access to the world's best entertainment. And pretty much wherever you live in town you're no more than 20 minutes from LAS which is an international airport serving tons of destinat…

Great point that Las Vegas has a great road system, and not a lot of traffic (also cheaper gas). It's a major city that can be escaped in 20 or 30 minutes and be in some gorgeous natural areas (Lake Mead, Red Rock Canyon). I found LA (and to a lesser extent SF) almost suffocating in how long it can take to get out of the city.
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