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Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

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Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#321

Post by uiri »

davidmr wrote: post #228

I'm genuinely surprised that this post is up to 214 comments and nobody has mentioned Paris yet. I have no idea what the practicalities of a life in Paris are, but it's still at the top of my list. In maybe half a dozen visits, I've found Parisians to be quite friendly for city dwellers (very much counter to the stereotype). If I approach situations in my severely broken French, people figure out quite quickly that t…

If I approach situations in my severely broken French, people figure out quite quickly that their English is better than my French

The stereotype incorporates the inherent rudeness of city dwellers (particularly compared to the rest of a country). My belief is that the stereotype also comes from monolingual Americans who start off in English and assume (or appear to assume) that everyone speaks (or should speak) English. If you start in French, it shows some amount of effort and respect for their culture.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#323

Post by bigmickey »

Brilliant question I also would like the answer to. For context, I have lived and worked in Ireland, UK, US, France, Germany, Cyprus, Japan and Singapore. I really like Singapore for the low tax, great weather, amazingly safe and crime-free environment (particularly appreciated by my wife) and tech-heavy leanings - although if you are a political blogger it might not be the place for you! It is also by some measures now the richest country on the planet (GDP per capita). It has a reputation for being expensive but if you are willing to live without owning a car (really not necessary in Singapore) and not buying a property (artificially expensive for a non-local) it really isn't that bad - certainly cheaper than central London or Manhattan. Hope this helps :)

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#324

Post by ohgh1ieD »

ido wrote: post #172
DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #125

Vienna. In the heart of Europe and just short drive away from every one of these: Italy Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland. ranked best place to live [1] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/feb/23/vienna-name... I'm not saying that the best thing about Vienna is the highway that get away from it (LOL), but as a foreigner it's the perfect "beach head" to explore the contin…

Lived in Vienna for 8 years, now in Berlin for the past 3. Vienna the city is great but I'd definitely say the biggest downside are the Viennese (I know this is ironically the most Viennese thing I could say). Basically everywhere in the German speaking world it's considered kinda weird to talk to strangers and people are quite...Shy, I guess? It's always the thing I appreciate most on visits to Canada, the US or the…

> I far more often felt like a curious attraction and "obviously" you're not really Austrian if you're not ethnically Austrian, even if you speak German and have lived in Vienna your whole life.

Once you master the Austrian 'Schmäh' everything is good :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Schmäh

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#325

Post by paulryanrogers »

Fnoord wrote: post #305
thinkindie wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I travel to Switzerland quite often for work plus I have relatives living in Switzerland since ages and I used to live close to the Italian-Switzerland border. I would never move there as the country is so boring. Really, every time I travel to Zurich I get bored and annoyed like hell.

I'm basically never bored alone, I prefer to be alone, and I can spend nearly 24/7 alone (although part of that time communicating via the Internet). The social interactions at work and with family is more than enough for me. I don't need to go 'go out', 'date', 'visit clubs', or 'see the world'. I've been there, done that. I want to settle at a place. Obviously YMMV. With the coming of VR I expect we're going to see…

"With the coming of VR I expect we're going to see more commonly people who barely if ever go on vacation but go on vacation via VR."

As an introvert who also enjoys VR, I doubt many people will do VR instead of physical vacation trips. The pros of real life trips (people, food, weather, sports) outway the those offered by current or near future VR (go 'anywhere', teleport instantly, etc.). Hopefully the future will prove me wrong.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#326

Post by mahyarm »

Fnoord wrote: post #302
snovv_crash wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salaries are high, but cost of living is also really high. If you are from the US, expect to eat out less and have a smaller house/apartment, but have nicer (and longer) holidays.

I would assume the balance is less ideal than US. Then again people from US compare to EU while in EU you get pension, insurance, and generally a social system to protect the weak (which might be you one day). Quite frankly I wouldn't mind not having much money to live on. My living standard doesn't evolve around e.g. eating out. I want my own apartment (for two), a cheap car, a good laptop, a reasonable good smartph…

Immigration isn't that great in switzerland. It takes even longer than the USA to get citizenship.

A high income is also good for saving, so you can bootstrap your own ventures in life instead of being beholden to a govt' retirement program or a specific employer.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#327

Post by agibsonccc »

dvcrn wrote: post #93
agibsonccc wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just got my visa for 1 year running a company here. I setup the company to be distributed. I am based in Tokyo. I can say despite not speaking the language it was the best decision I have ever made. Both locals and expats are friendly. If you are going to do business here it is best to have someone on your team who speaks the language though. Another big reason I love it here is how safe it is. After having lived i…

Are you talking about the normal startup visa here that's valid for 1 year? I wasn't aware that it's this annoying to get. From my understanding, you have to hand in the papers (with a basic business plan), incorporate your company and after a year, proof that you indeed make money. For all other visas you just need a sponsor (company) / proof that you can make money as a freelancer and, well, a university degree. Ja…

I did an intra company transfer with an already existing subsidiary. In our case we are venture funded with a seed round in the millions. The devil here is in the details.

We also have a deal with jetro: http://jetro.go.jp/usa/topics/companies-chosen-global-innova...

as well as a ton of Japanese PR which helped.

Half of our difficulty was actually finding a good law firm that understood how software companies work.

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#328

Post by rocky1138 »

jobigoud wrote: post #242
rocky1138 wrote: post #210

Taipei, Taiwan. The friendliest people you will ever meet, living and working in the most convenient country you will ever visit. Everything for daily life is within walking distance but if you do need something a bit further out, public and private transportation is exceptionally cheap and effective. The weather is fantastic year-round (save for heavy rains sometimes coming from the ocean) and taking a weekend to vi…

Do you have to speak Mandarin to go about your daily life?

If you're going to be living there 10 years, then yes. If you're there for 30 days, nah. Just a few phrases like hello, goodbye, where's the bathroom, thank you.

The road signage and markings are identical to my home country of Canada. People drive on the right. The electrical plugs are the same. Almost all of the road signs and public transportation signs are in English as well as Mandarin.

The one notable exception are the Taipei city buses. Those are Mandarin-only. I guess they don't expect too many foreigners to be taking those!

Re: Ask HN: If you could live and work somewhere, where would it be?

#330

Post by mahyarm »

ThomPete wrote: post #173
Xcelerate wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, I'm jealous of that view... that's literally my ideal apartment. And you've provided a great counterargument for everyone who says you can't have children in a city. As someone who just finished grad school, there's no way I could afford that though haha

It's not cheap thats for sure and my wife isn't working. But New York although expensive is surprisingly child friendly and have experienced a surge in the number of people with kids (think like 30% in the last 5 years.) Once they hit Kindergarten there is plenty of good schools for free. I am hoping to be able to stay here for many years and have my boys be real New Yorkers.

How is it child friendly? I've heard the stereotype is quite the opposite. Do you rent or did you buy that place?

Also I work at the same building as square HQ in SF, haha.

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