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San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

nytimes.com

181–190 of 226 posts

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on which part. North-east PQ (over by Rolling Hills) homes were built in the early 70s and are still going in the low 600's. I believe west PQ (Black Mountain Rd area) homes are newer and more expensive.

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

I'm in UC but work nearby at Intuit. Lots of us.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

I think it's safe to say that literally thousands of people have moved to the Bay Area for work for IBM.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#183
post #162
post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Have you been back recently? I visited SD last month after being gone for 4 years... It was not the same to me. Very dry and dirty. Maybe living in Colorado has made me spoiled but it just seems different.

Yeah I was there last month, and had fresh sashimi and fish tacos sitting on the the deck at Point Loma Seafoods, where it was still 70 degrees and glorious at 6pm. And then I flew home to a cold, gray SF ;)

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#184
post #162
post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Have you been back recently? I visited SD last month after being gone for 4 years... It was not the same to me. Very dry and dirty. Maybe living in Colorado has made me spoiled but it just seems different.

After living in Colorado for several years (not in Denver) every city I visit seems very dirty. And I grew up in NYC.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You come off as really full of yourself for a guy who sounds like he does little more than write CRUD apps with the FotM web stack.

I'm not a web programmer at all, not sure why I come off that way. Also, since we're on HN, I assume most readers are familiar with PG's term 'Blub programmer', which more ore less means 'java' these days. shrug

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$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.

The comparison is 2million in Palo Alto for an attached townhouse ~2200sqft. You might be able to get an 800k house in a bad neighborhood (east palo alto) that's 1100 sqft. Friend in Buffalo is buying a house for 120k, difference is extreme.

> Friend in Buffalo is buying a house for 120k, difference is extreme.

Buffalo is an extreme example, both nationally and inside Buffalo itself. The most expensive single family homes in the city are ~$1.5MM [0]. These are mansions built in the early 1900s right on a beautiful park. Alternatively, you can buy an almost condemned house in a bad neighborhood for ~$5,000 [1]. People actually live in those places.

[0] http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/82-Meadow-Rd-Buffalo-NY-14...

[1] http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/647-Norfolk...

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$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.

The comparison is 2million in Palo Alto for an attached townhouse ~2200sqft. You might be able to get an 800k house in a bad neighborhood (east palo alto) that's 1100 sqft. Friend in Buffalo is buying a house for 120k, difference is extreme.

Buffalo is a rust belt place that has been in the wane for decades.

A decade ago, they were razing 50 houses a month.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#188
post #162
post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Have you been back recently? I visited SD last month after being gone for 4 years... It was not the same to me. Very dry and dirty. Maybe living in Colorado has made me spoiled but it just seems different.

This. I'm from Montana, and while I love the weather here in SD, the glamour has worn off. The cost of living is astronomical, pay insufficient to compensate, and there are surprisingly few opportunities for what I do (Data Science). Oh, and while I love the beach (toxic water and all), I think a lot of SD is just... UGLY. Brown, dirty, desert. Of course part of this is all the hard scaping taking place. Everyone ripping up green and replacing with rocks and dirt isn't going to help things look pretty.

All in all, my wife and I are looking for an exit. Unless I can start making six figures in the next six months I don't think we'll make it another year here. We've felt squeezed since we arrived and it's not getting any better.

We've been here three years so far.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#189
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 SD too.. employment opportunities in general outside defense and tourism is not great. Neither is the pay. As the old joke goes, they pay you in sunshine.

Lower cost of living and lower median income make it a total wash, with the more interesting jobs requiring Uncle Sam's security clearance. My dream scenario is getting my LA based company to switch manufacturer to TJ and set up the R&D office in San Diego, but I'm already thinking, 'what if I can't find good people in SD'.

Re: San Diego Struggles to Keep Its Young Tech Talent

#190
post #37
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…

> Meanwhile the housing is still affordable compared to the Bay Area, if not cheap on a national basis. And the Valley is an hourlong Southwest flight away. I see lots of >$1 million homes and >$1500/month rents for apartments, in the suburbs. Do you have any specific areas in mind? I'm thinking about moving.

Yeah, unless you wanna live in a box under a bridge (but even that's becoming more challenging), you'll find those prices you quote to be very accurate. And at $1500 you're not living in a nice area. That's about the cheapest we could find for a two bedroom in Clairemont with lead paint on the walls and asbestos in the ceiling. And buying is no better. $500K here will get you a square box in a "gentrifying" section of town and it'll need a lot of work.

Tldr: housing is NOT cheap on a national basis...only by comparison to NYC and the Bay Area. An easy Google search shows how unaffordable it is here.

So it's great here if you've got, or can make, a lot of money. But for everyone else, it's tough.

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