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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?

#311

Post by cableshaft »

monksy wrote: post #170
cableshaft wrote: post #50

I've been fighting to stay in Chicago and it's been difficult to get the next job when you're between jobs quickly (lots of recruiters that are really good at wasting your time here), and it's even harder to find advertised salary ranges where you want them to be (tech salaries are really depressed here compared to elsewhere). I've been trying to stay here because it took me forever (as an introvert) to build a stron…

What kind of work are you looking for? As far as recruiters. There are some recruiting groups that are absolutely garbage. (There is even one named after the redline stop that the Cubs play at which is really shit) You'll just have to weed out the bad ones to find the good ones.

I know not all recruiters are bad, but I'm mainly venting frustration at the last two times I had to look for work, which had several months of unemployment as recruiters kept calling me all day every day about various potential jobs, and then interviews almost getting set up but then cancelled for changing requirements or other crap, or I'd get an interview and do well but the company would take forever to set up a second interview (and the recruiter knew they worked that way), or they kept trying to get me to relocate on my dime which I couldn't afford and didn't really want to relocate anyway.

I did get my current job through a recruiter, and he was very professional, polite, communicative, so not all experiences have been bad, just a ton of my time got wasted when I really badly needed a job and my finances were getting screwed pretty badly.

If I were looking I'd be interested in getting back into mobile development in a senior role, preferably with opportunities to work from home periodically, especially if it's downtown. I've been learning React Native in my spare time in preparation for when I'm ready to get back into the mobile scene.

My current job is just right up the street, the boss is nice, and pays decent so my main concerns are it's not mobile development and it's not looking like I'm likely to get promoted to a senior role here anytime soon because there are many talented people on the team who have been here longer and would probably get promoted before me.

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

#312

Post by JBlue42 »

nostrademons wrote: post #289
sheri wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is this your own set of insecurities being projected on others? I never got that sense in SV... I am not the OP, but I share his/her views. To the above point, maybe? I used to perceive NY/Wall-Street as all about image, and SF/tech-scene to be much more down-to-earth and friendly. I don't find that anymore. Taking Caltrain, I see people wearing Google/FB/Twitter/XXX t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, bags etc. Compan…

I think you're reading into this based on how the rest of the world operates. Most techies in Silicon Valley wear company schwag because it's free. My wardrobe consists of (or has consisted of, my wife made me throw a bunch of the older stuff out) T-shirts from Amherst, Brandeis, and Olin; a TellApart T-shirt; a Medallia T-shirt; a Microsoft T-shirt; a Foliage Software Systems T-shirt; at least 6 Google T-shirts; 2 G…

Same in LA. A lot of crew t-shirts and other stuff given out at the end of production. And the recently-graduated college students? College t-shirts (sometimes sweatshirts in our 'winter').

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

#313

Post by giaour »

shostack wrote: post #125
bkjelden wrote: post #25

Seattle'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.

I grew up in reclaimed swamp land (Houston), used to live in NYC, and find Seattle weather delightful by comparison. It's never unbearably hot or cold, and I have lush flowers outside my door thanks to all the rain.

I live in a bungalow with a ton of natural light; I imagine I would feel differently about the weather if I had fewer windows and/or no garden.

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

#314

Post by JshWright »

ryanSrich wrote: post #229
JshWright wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Upstate New York" is a very large area. It would be tough to generalize... I'm in the Syracuse area (smack in the middle of the state), and the local scene is reasonably unimpressive (I work remotely, as do most of the folks I know in the area). There is a bit of a tech job market 45 minutes east of here in Rome, but that's mostly DoD related work (Rome Labs, etc). An hour and a half south is Ithaca, which is a 'hip…

I grew up in cuse and went to school at RIT. Why I'd never go back: 1. Snow, 2. Taxes Why I'd go back: 1. Insanely cheap 2. Hot plates Thus is life.

The snow is less of an issue lately (we only got ~6ft of snow this year in Syracuse, thanks to a warm Pacific (yay climate change...)).

Con #2 is largely offset by Pro #1.

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

#315

Post by cylinder »

Vnjjkkll wrote: 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,…

Good luck working on awful LIRR / NJT trains, I can't even read anything on my phone with how much they rock around.

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

#316

Post by tclmeelmo »

HelloMcFly wrote: post #85
tclmeelmo wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (though I'll miss the Sushi and Korean food greatly) Are you not taking advantage of the Buford corridor?

Oh I absolutely am. But the sushi isn't the same. I don't remember as much of the Korean food I ate in Atlanta, but I didn't really get into Korean until I got out here. I do find the Indian food in the Atlanta area superior.

Since you like Korean and BBQ, have you been to Heirloom Market? http://heirloommarketbbq.com

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

#317

Post by OneOneOneOne »

humbleMouse wrote: post #91
prime09 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+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.

That's pretty harsh.

We wanted to move into S. Minneapolis but couldn't justify the high cost. Instead we ended up in the (far) suburbs.

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

#318

Post by MilnerRoute »

kevan_ wrote: post #74

Hijacking this a bit: for you folks who've relocated, how did you handle getting connected to the tech community in your new city, and eventually finding a job there? Did you find something beforehand (if so, how), or just start interviewing once you're on the ground and established? I've contemplated this before, and make a point to check out jobs in other cities when I'm job hunting, but it's hard to ignore the loc…

I've always dreamed of picking a new city, and then hunting for a job there until I found one. I did this once years ago, and the hardest part was just flying out for interviews (from the old city to the new one) -- and then obviously all the logistics of moving. But you only have to do it once.

If you know at least one person in your new city, it can really clear a lot of the early confusion. (I once thought about posting a Craigslist ad offering a free dinner to anyone who'd also come and talk to me about the city...) And Meetups are a great way to find people who share your interests, whether it's tech or a certain sport or even just going out to movies....

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

#319

Post by jjtheblunt »

kelukelugames wrote: post #131
shostack wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I grew up in Cupertino and live in Seattle now. I used to live in an apartment with very little natural light, that was awful. Now I live in a condo with tons of light and feel better. Also fly down to Bay Area once a month for work. Seattle weather isn't that bad. During June through September it's the best in the country. Just gray in the winters, doesn't really rain much. Some other cons. Negligible start up scene…

Seattle supersonics ?

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

#320

Post by hosh »

placeybordeaux wrote: post #174
hosh wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived there for a year. I'm living about an hour and a half north of Phoenix, just below the Rim. Sometimes, I miss those dreary storm-grey clouds of the Pacific NW. "Nice weather" is subjective, and it isn't necessarily "sunny". I have a friend who burns badly in any kind of sunlight -- Seattle is where she makes her home. Flagstaff, AZ, oddly, is like a miniature Seattle, though the tech scene isn't as happening.…

Nice weather is certainly subjective. Seattle doesn't really freeze and it stays below the temperature that you have to buy an AC unit. It rarely deals with substantial flooding and it rarely rains enough that a simple rain coat/umbrella won't deal with.

Exactly! And with the high humidity, at 40-degrees in the winter, Seattle feels more comfortable than 40-degrees of dryness out here in the desert. Here in the high desert, when the sun goes down, you go from baking to cold very quickly.
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