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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?

#361

Post by solatic »

jraby3 wrote: post #8

Tel Aviv, Israel. Perfect weather and beaches. Beautiful girls. Amazing tech companies and funding. Unbelievable nightlife.

Was looking for this. Beaches, babes, beer (including craft options), sunny and warm nine months out of the year, flat and easily bikeable, nature and history are relatively close, relatively fast Internet for relatively cheap, booming tech scene with high salaries relative to the local cost of living, work-life balance when everything shuts down on Saturdays, great nightlife options, great food with a great sport/running/fitness subculture, most people speak English at least proficiently if not fluently. What else does a developer in his 20's and 30's want?

If I had to complain about something it's that I find Israelis to be relatively clique-ish, the postal service sucks, and the light rail isn't finished yet. OK, so there are no utopias.

Tel Aviv is a greatly underpublicized and underrated gem of a city, probably due to politics, which is sad because politics/the conflict has virtually no effect on day-to-day life here, and because it's difficult to get a work visa if you aren't Jewish, but that's slowly changing since the army and academia are only producing about half the amount of qualified/credentialed/experienced labor the tech sector needs every year and it's now impacting the growth of what's now the most important sector of the economy, and both are already relatively huge compared to other Western countries, so it's not like the government could expand the military or academia further in order to get more labor, and it's starting to warm to the idea of allowing more non-Jewish immigration to compensate.

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

#363

Post by flukus »

jraby3 wrote: post #8

Tel Aviv, Israel. Perfect weather and beaches. Beautiful girls. Amazing tech companies and funding. Unbelievable nightlife.

From a quick google search it seems like the surf is pretty flat and not suitable for surfing, is that correct?

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

#364

Post by Fnoord »

mahyarm wrote: post #326
Fnoord wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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

I assumed we were talking about a hypothetical situation because for one reason or another in our current situation we can't fulfil that dream.

Is it that difficult to get a H1B visa in Switzerland?

> A high income is also good for saving [...]

Yes, but some rather costly business like chemo therapy is in the default insurance in NL. So you will always have it. Besides, if you got too much money, you end up paying more tax. So people end up saving, but also spending, and if they don't they gotta pay more tax. All of which is good for the economy.

One other thing I like about Switzerland is the direct democracy approach. Although I think it also works so well because its a small country, we got a non binding referendum, and its barely ever used because it requires a petition. Last time it was used was Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum, 2016 [1]. Note, I voted 'for', but that doesn't mean I want the government or EU to ignore the vote. Which is what pretty much happened recently in action (not in words although those words, too, weren't binding).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Ukraine%E2%80%93European...

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

#365

Post by michaelhoney »

theli0nheart wrote: post #215
gravypod wrote: post #97

Middle of nowhere with an internet connection. I'd be pretty happy in Alaska but living in Alaska is very expensive.

I would love the same, but the the possibility of a sudden-onset life-threatening health issue and lack of proximity to a high-quality medical facility makes this a non-starter for me.

Even five kilometres from a small town can feel like wilderness. These days a town of 5,000 people can have enough to sustain life (medical and otherwise).

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

#367

Post by knocte »

herbst wrote: post #136
knocte wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are websites like Upwork which only work with cryptocurrencies. For the existing employers, you could offer your employers a discount on your rate if they use bitcoin (or rather, ask them for a surplus percentage if they don't ;) ).

Can you point me to some? All i've seen are fiverr like and have many sellers but no buyers it seems

https://www.xbtfreelancer.com/

https://www.codementor.io/

http://livelygig.com/

https://www.bitwage.me/workers

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

#368

Post by omarchowdhury »

varjag wrote: post #333
cylinder wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe me I don't mean this with any offense and condescension. But you do need to live in NYC for a few years to decide. Most who do this will end up leaving, but some really love it and give 100% effort to never leave it. I would say it really depends on your job/career here. Good place to try either way and it will open one's eyes and also help one figure out what they want in life.

No doubt true, but same stands for about any megalopolis out there. In the end it's up if the place has right chemistry for you, and yes, if you can support the lifestyle to match. There's little point to live in NYC outside of Manhattan ;)

So by your admission, the 6.8 million people living in the outer boroughs are living pointless lives?

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

#369

Post by snovv_crash »

Fnoord wrote: post #364
mahyarm wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Immigration isn't that great in switzerland. It takes even longer than the USA to get citizenship. I assumed we were talking about a hypothetical situation because for one reason or another in our current situation we can't fulfil that dream. Is it that difficult to get a H1B visa in Switzerland? > A high income is also good for saving [...] Yes, but some rather costly business like chemo therapy is in the default…

>Is it that difficult to get a H1B visa in Switzerland?

If you don't have an EU passport, yes. There are regional quotas, so if you want to live somewhere with lots of tech (read: non-EU people) getting in under the quotas is really hard.

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

#370

Post by cylinder »

miguelrochefort wrote: post #345
cylinder wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you looked into the rent and taxes in NYC? As a determined single person chasing FIRE you probably could pull off some arbitrage by renting a room somewhere far, but a more reasonable lifestyle and raising a family, I doubt it.

Looks fantastic to me. New York City: - Gross income: $150,000 - Net income: $95,000 - Rent: $25,000 - Money left: $70,000 Montreal: - Gross income: $35,000 - Net income: $27,000 - Rent: $6,000 - Money left: $21,000 Would you switch place?

Sure, Montreal is pretty lame IMO. Assuming you're in software why don't you make the move? As a Canadian citizen you can easily get TN status at the border.
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