New York isn't that expensive if you're willing to commute 45 min to work. It's only really bad if you want to live in a trendy apartment in a trendy neighborhood, otherwise it's very affordable.
Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
121–130 of 392 posts
Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
#122Repping Raleigh here. There is a decent startup scene and housing is very reasonable. $1200 for a 2 bed/ 2 bath apartment with garage that is about 10 minutes from my office and less than 20 minutes to downtown. Weather is nice and there are plenty of firms moving to the area. The only downside is that traffic is increasing, but there is enough sprawl it is not a huge issue. Startups are coming out of major universit…
IMO, the weather is nice for about 4 weeks out of the year (~2 in the spring, ~2 in the fall).
I lived in the RDU area for nearly 30 years. I grew up there. I didn't realize what I was missing until I moved to California (Orange County). Of course it's more expensive, but I think you get what you pay for in this case. Costal living is expensive for a reason.
Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
I completely agree with your thoughts on Austin. To me, Austin has more of a "Portland" vibe. But the growth (and potential growth) just isn't there. It is in Dallas. I guess I also should have noted in my first comment, prior to Dallas, we lived in Boston. There was a fair amount of tech jobs there, but nothing really "new". The tech scene never really seemed very strong either. Unless, maybe, you were part of the s…
"But the growth (and potential growth) just isn't there." I could pull up hundreds of articles on how Austin is in the top 1-5 in growth in the USA so I'm not sure where you're getting this statement from. Not to mention the growth is blatantly obvious if you live here and deal with traffic, house shopping, or getting brunch on a Sunday. I've been here 6 years and it feels like a completely different city now. But I…
I agree Austin has had great growth. However, compared to Dallas, I don't believe it will sustain. That's just my perspective of what I see/read in the Dallas area and what I read about the Austin area.
Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
#124Minneapolis. - 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.
Haven't lived in Minneapolis since college (yay MCAD!) but one thing to consider is the weather. Not saying it should be the sole driver of your decision, but there's a reason buildings in downtown Minneapolis literally have tunnels and bridges connecting them.
I am originally from Chicago, and when I went to school in Mpls it was possibly some of the most mild winters in history compared to Chicago. That said, they can be absolutely brutal.
As someone who is fed up with ridiculous extreme winter, I'll pay the sunshine tax to remain in the Bay Area as long as I can. Likewise, the sun out here did wonders for my mood in the winter. These things are not as easy to place a dollar amount on as rent, but that doesn't mean they don't have value.
Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
#125Seattle's housing costs are definitely rising but Washington's lack of an income tax is a boon for software engineers. Also, many of the big players in tech will pay within 10-20% of their bay area total comp packages in Seattle, so your take home pay might be almost the same, but of course your dollar is going to go a lot further. I ran some numbers comparing Seattle, Denver, and Minneapolis, and found the descendin…
And how do you cope with the weather and lack of sun? One big draw for me about the Bay Area is the weather. I realized how important nice weather was for me to be happy, so I consider the sunshine tax a sunk cost for my mental and physical well-being.
Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
#126I moved from Cupertino to very upstate New York about 15 months ago. I was able to buy a house, on a lake, forest on all sides of me and I spent less than $200,000 to buy the house, move, furnish a new place and remodel a bit to my liking. No startup scene here. For me, it was the slower pace of life, peace and quiet and more time to work on my personal goals.
I feel like this is the dream, but the reality for many people is that they need to be where the jobs are. For those who are not developers easily able to get remote work, that's a major consideration.
What's the job market near you like? How long is the average commute? Those are both major considerations for a lot of folks.
(PS I'm not criticizing you--major props for living your dream. I just think that people read comments like this without giving these considerations much thought)
Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
#127I'm fond of the Dallas area, especially the suburb Richardson.
Lots of tech jobs here, and the cost of living is very low (if you're paying more than $0.75 per square foot here, you're paying too much).
Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
#128Well, 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…
On traffic: it's terrible, but Seattle is now worse than Atlanta in my opinion. It wasn't like that when we first moved here, but it's like that now. Neither place is great.
On lack of character: we can just agree to disagree on that. I find the culture and character amazing, though it doesn't beat my favorite character-rich cities of New Orleans and Charleston, SC. I never wanted for things to do, and we went camping in the Appalachians regularly.
Full of transplants: that's going to be true of most recommendations on this list. Seattle, SF, Portland, Bend, Nashville, Denver, Chicago, and on and on. Not a negative for me, as I'm a transplant myself (I'm certainly never moving back to Kansas).
Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
#129Bend, Oregon. Direct flights to and from West Coast hubs. Active startup scene. https://youtube.com/watch?v=KxhA2jopebQ Bend has already been "discovered". However, there is still affordable housing and you can't beat the weather, beer scene and the outdoors here. If you want to check it out, you can stay in my awesome big house when we are traveling: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7497695
I think I totally just bought your chandelier. Does it give really good light for the dining room?
Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?
#130Repping Raleigh here. There is a decent startup scene and housing is very reasonable. $1200 for a 2 bed/ 2 bath apartment with garage that is about 10 minutes from my office and less than 20 minutes to downtown. Weather is nice and there are plenty of firms moving to the area. The only downside is that traffic is increasing, but there is enough sprawl it is not a huge issue. Startups are coming out of major universit…
I work for a coworking company that has a place in Raleigh. It's a nice town and close to major universities so I think it'll keep expanding. I'd be surprised if more people didn't move to the triangle in general.