San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent • Hacker News Board

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#151

Post by sk8ingdom » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 8:41 PM UTC

tmalsburg2 wrote: post #39

I lived in San Diego for the last two years and this article doesn't make much sense to me. They say the problem is that Sorento valley is to far from San Diego downtown but downtown is dull and there are plenty of good places to live not far away from Sorento valley (Del Mar, La Jolla, Pacific Beach). I commuted from North Park to the UCSD campus which is close to Sorrento valley and it was no problem at all.

Not to mention that equipped with a bike and the coaster [1], you could easily make it between Downtown (either Santa Fe or Old Town), and Sorrento Valley in 40 minutes. Granted, there isn't a super safe way to get to / from the Old Town station.

[1] http://www.gonctd.com/wp-content/uploads/Schedules/Coaster-S...

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#152

Post by niels_olson » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 9:22 PM UTC

sdbluesman wrote: post #127

niels_olson wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

we could start a PQ HN meet-up. My treehouse accomodates 4 and has a pulley system. We can haul up buckets of beer :) Note to self: uptownfunk, falkenb0t also in PQ. That's 5

+1 for PQ meetup

Second Chance or BT's Southern BBQ would be good.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#153

Post by runT1ME » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 9:47 PM UTC

blackflame7000 wrote: post #139

runT1ME wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to be the naysayer here and say that a year and a half back when I was looking for jobs I considered all options up and down the California coast. My conclusion from my search was that I will not be moving to San Diego. The salaries are far below Orange County, which are below Los Angeles, which are less than Bay Area salaries. Now, money isn't everything, but I'd say tech culture (in terms of technology, m…

If you think the place where you program determines whether or not you are a 'blub' I believe you are sorely misguided.

That was not what I meant at all. I mean if you aren't particular about the technology stack you are working with and/or hoping for a high salary, then odds are more in your favor in SD, vs. being picky.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#154

Post by CalRobert » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 10:12 PM UTC

sk8ingdom wrote: post #148

sk8ingdom wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in the east bay, went to college on the central coast (Cal Poly), and have lived in San Diego County for the last 6 years--specifically Carlsbad, East Village, Little Italy, and Hillcrest. I'm an aeronautical engineer who specializes in numerical analysis, so I'm not the EXACT demographic mentioned in the article but I still think I can offer some insight. I can validate a lot of what CalRobert has mentione…

That all sounds pretty bad, but there is a lot that makes San Diego a really great place to lives as well: - _Beer_: If you're into beer, San Diego is a REALLY great place to be. There are new breweries popping up constantly, a great selection of beers on tap at nearly ever restaurant, and a decent bottle shop on nearly every corner. - _Dogs_: San Diego is an INCREDIBLY dog friendly city. There are numerous dog parks…

That was fantastically thorough. If I still lived in SD I'd ask if you wanted to meet up for a pint. We even share an alma mater (Cal Poly SLO).

I couldn't have put it better myself. And thanks for pointing out that climate change is an issue. I got really, really tired of people saying "gee, this sure is an unusually hot summer. Just like the last one, and the one before that, and the one before that" and yet thinking of climate change as unsettled science. Before weatherspark got rid of their dashboard I could show them that summers in SD ARE definitively hotter than they have been in ages (though there was a hot stretch in the late 70's).

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#155

Post by CalRobert » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 10:18 PM UTC

kyled wrote: post #60

CalRobert wrote: post #54

I moved to San Diego to start a tech company with a partner about 18 months ago. SD was chosen because partner lived there and was established. We found it very difficult to get the attention of any VC's or potential customers. We did manage to get an interview with YC, but were declined. Was this due to the location? Perhaps. I do know that the events we went to were lackluster, and the ecosystem was weak. You've go…

Sorry to hear about your wife, I hope she is okay. I actually miss SD and think SF is a bit overrated haha.

Thanks. She is OK but still has limited motion in her wrist and occasional pain.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#156

Post by aianus » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 10:20 PM UTC

monkmartinez wrote: post #72

roadnottaken wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In north county, places like Rancho Penasquitos (92129) have great schools and you can find decent single-family homes in the low $600's these days. It's about 15 minutes from the coast without traffic -- 25 mins from downtown. Nearby areas like Mira Mesa and Clairemont are cheaper but the public schools aren't as good.

$600,000 is affordable? How about smart? I don't mean to chide, but $600,000 for a cookie cutter tract-home is down right absurd. California is nuts.

$600,000 for a house in California sounds pretty cheap to me too. That's the price of an apartment in Toronto and even senior software developers here are lucky to clear US$80,000 a year.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#157

Post by alexcarroll » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 10:32 PM UTC

FT_intern wrote: post #64

honkhonkpants wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^^^ exactly! People just don't understand how bad the traffic and transportation systems around here can be, especially the northbound evening commute hours. My choice would have been IBM though, being as far as I can recall the most distant major tech campus from San Francisco. It's 90 minutes by car or 3 hours by train.

nobody moves to the bay area to work for IBM

Had a couple colleagues when I lived in Austin leave for SF to work for IBM...

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#158

Post by solveforall » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 10:33 PM UTC

As a San Diego resident for the last 12 years, I have to agree it is not a good place for a tech worker. Salaries are quite low compared to other areas, companies aren't very many or particular successful, and housing costs in the good school districts are high (at least $600k for a SFR). Public transit is awful, and car traffic is quite bad as well. If I didn't have family here, I'd definitely move.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#159

Post by LukeG » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 10:46 PM UTC

mapgrep wrote: post #31

I grew up in San Diego before spending 20 years in the Bay Area. While I totally understand why a fresh graduate would want to head north to the bay, I think as a place to CREATE a startup, San Diego has tremendous potential. The weather is beautiful and actually beats SF. It's close to 70 year round, nice and dry, with great beaches and mountain and desert hiking. As the article notes downtown has been evolving in a…

I grew up in San Diego, have been working on tech in SF for almost a decade, and love the idea of moving back.

The quality of life in (western) San Diego is so hard to beat. A couple dozen (or hundred) of us moving back with some meaningful experience and success could go a long way towards making San Diego a viable place to more easily build and sustain real companies.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#160

Post by davidw » Thu, Sep 15, 2016, 10:55 PM UTC

monkmartinez wrote: post #72

roadnottaken wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In north county, places like Rancho Penasquitos (92129) have great schools and you can find decent single-family homes in the low $600's these days. It's about 15 minutes from the coast without traffic -- 25 mins from downtown. Nearby areas like Mira Mesa and Clairemont are cheaper but the public schools aren't as good.

$600,000 is affordable? How about smart? I don't mean to chide, but $600,000 for a cookie cutter tract-home is down right absurd. California is nuts.

You could buy a huge house for that here in Bend, and we're probably at or near the top of the latest real estate cycle.

It's almost as dry as San Diego here in theory, but a heck of a lot colder in the winter.