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One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, poll finds

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Re: One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, poll finds

#41

Please don't come to Austin. I moved from SF to Austin a little over two years ago, and I want to make it clear that it's terrible. The food is bad, the people are lame, and all the musicians are out of tune. I hear Chicago is where it's at, so please go there. Or New York. Or anywhere else, really. Just don't come to Austin.

I just want to add that Fort Lauderdale is a horrible, horrible place too. We don't have a tech industry here so you won't find work.

Re: One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, poll finds

#43
post #28
post #5

I'm sure the fact that there's an increasing trend of empty Chinese investment properties isn't helping. I grew up in Cupertino, and when I visit my parents there, I'm rather shocked at how downhill the neighborhood has gone in parts. It's crazy that these old 70's tract homes go for 1.5 million. Even more insane is that they're bought and then left empty to go downhill. Literally broken windows and paint falling off…

> I grew up in Cupertino, and when I visit my parents there, I'm rather shocked at how downhill the neighborhood has gone in parts. It's crazy that these old 70's tract homes go for 1.5 million. Even more insane is that they're bought and then left empty to go downhill. Literally broken windows and paint falling off. I never used to see that. Do you have any idea what's behind this?

I'm inclined to believe many are empty investment properties. A documentary about the housing costs showed a Chinese investment tour of Cupertino for such purpose:

https://youtu.be/SBjXUBMkkE8?t=2m35s

The other issue is that the high school I went to there, Monta Vista High School, is extremely well-ranked. As such some investors buy houses, then rent them to a single custodian who boards as many students as possible so they can attend the schools. These custodians don't seem to have a high priority on keeping the house in great shape.

Re: One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, poll finds

#44

Please don't come to Austin. I moved from SF to Austin a little over two years ago, and I want to make it clear that it's terrible. The food is bad, the people are lame, and all the musicians are out of tune. I hear Chicago is where it's at, so please go there. Or New York. Or anywhere else, really. Just don't come to Austin.

To add to your list: the bigotry of the Texan people seeps into Austin, the job market is tiny compared to the Bay, it is in a state where Republicans call the shots regarding social issues, their tech job market is dominated by contracted talent firms, and it gets hot as hell.

Re: One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, poll finds

#45

Please don't come to Austin. I moved from SF to Austin a little over two years ago, and I want to make it clear that it's terrible. The food is bad, the people are lame, and all the musicians are out of tune. I hear Chicago is where it's at, so please go there. Or New York. Or anywhere else, really. Just don't come to Austin.

[deleted]

Re: One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, poll finds

#46
post #3

Hope too, in 20 years, retire to Latin America :) Until that, I have to work, and BA is the only place where a programmer can work.

> and BA is the only place where a programmer can work.

Yes, in exactly none of the big cities in the USA there is programming being done, let alone medium cities.

Nothing in NYC, nothing in Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Austin, DFW, Minneapolis, Portland, etc

Only on SFBA

Sure

Re: One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, poll finds

#48
post #31
post #8

Makes sense. I wrote a piece called "Do millennials have a future in Seattle? Do millennials have a future in any superstar cities?" ( http://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/24/do-millennials-have-a-futu... ) that focuses on Seattle, but the problems in SF are even worse. We're seeing decades of parochial land use policies turn into affordability crises in SF and similar cities. Which is why so many people are moving to Texa…

You can have good mass transit or affordable housing, but not both. This sucks.

> You can have good mass transit or affordable housing, but not both.

Why's that?

Re: One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, poll finds

#49
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were being sarcastic.

But were they? Really? 100+ temps in the summer... landlocked in Texas.

Landlocked? There is water EVERYWHERE in Austin. There are 7 miles worth of Greenbelts that cut through the entire downtown/urban area. We have Lake Travis and Lake Austin. The Colorado river (Town Lake) is right beside 1st street. We have Barton Springs just south of 1st street.

We're also getting a surf park (Nland) this year and have a ton of wake-boarding/cable parks.

An hour south we have Dripping Springs and Wimberley with Jacobs Well, Blue Hole, Hamilton Pool, Krausse Springs, etc. If you think Austin looks like the rest of Texas, here are some examples;

Hamilton Pool; http://yestotexas.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/hamiltonpoo...

Blue Hole; http://ww3.hdnux.com/photos/27/63/44/6240562/3/920x920.jpg

Greenbelt (twin falls); http://www.austinmonthly.com/Twin%20Falls.jpg

I'm breaking Austin rules by talking about these, but hey, I already own a house, so move on in and make my little house even more ridiculously valuable!

Re: One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, poll finds

#50

Is the Bay Area no longer a good place to start a career? I'm close to finishing up my PhD, and my original plan was to apply to work at the tech companies that I find most interesting. For the most part, these are located in the Bay Area — although some are in New York, Austin, Boston, Seattle, Raleigh, and Atlanta. I figured I would stay there 2-4 years tops though, since my family and girlfriend live in the southe…

As someone without a degree working in tech, I would argue The Bay Area is the best place to grow a career, maybe rather than start (didn't start out looking in SF for tech jobs. Most places want someone mid-senior level). You having a PhD probably opens the door for a ton of good companies though depending on what your field of study is in, which I assume is CS, and if you can pass the interviews. As long as you don't mind living in a box-sized apartment with other roommates despite having that or a studio in one of the more stab-y parts of town the opportunities for career growth are incredible.
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