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Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

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Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#71

Post by jimmy1 »

hullo wrote: post #12
jimmy1 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High stress, high pollution, rat race of a lifestyle, you are regulated and taxed on more things you even thought possible, and one of the worst imaginable places to try and raise a family. It has it's pros and cons, but I think we both agree it is certainly better than Silicon Valley. It's great if you are a young professional figuring out the world, but eventually people want their space and be able to stretch out…

I am a tech worker raising my family in Brooklyn and it's quite lovely. Expensive, yes, but lovely. Whether you find it a "rat race" of a lifestyle or not is much more dependent on your internal psychology than the city itself.

I have heard Brooklyn is gentrifying at a rapid pace, but back when I was there, Brooklyn just wasn't an option.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#72

Post by adrianparsons »

humanrebar wrote: post #56
jdlyga wrote: post #3

Cheaper rent than Silicon Valley, tons of cultural diversity, and amazing food. Really nice place to live.

I think New York is good but overrated as a food scene, especially dollar for dollar.

I live in NYC and the main difference I noticed about food in CA is how produce-centric it is. NYC food is incredible, but eating out usually means meat, cheese, and bread.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#73

Post by adrr »

yanslookup wrote: post #59
caiob wrote: post #28

> On Wall Street, new computer engineers get hired at $120,000, but senior managers can make $400,000 plus the bonuses Wall Street hands out every winter This always bums me out. Why do managers make so much more money than engineers?

A group of 5 engineers, left to their own devices, would probably produce about $100k worth of value. An effective manager can extract two million dollars worth of value out of those same 5 engineers. If you don't believe this, you may have never had a great manager.

Could say the same thing about athletes and coaches but who makes more in pro sports?

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#74

Post by dr_ »

lallysingh wrote: post #17
jimmy1 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High stress, high pollution, rat race of a lifestyle, you are regulated and taxed on more things you even thought possible, and one of the worst imaginable places to try and raise a family. It has it's pros and cons, but I think we both agree it is certainly better than Silicon Valley. It's great if you are a young professional figuring out the world, but eventually people want their space and be able to stretch out…

That place is New Jersey. Mortgages for a real house with land for less than an apartment rent in SF. I think California is also known for regulation and taxation. Solid public and private school options. Lovely little towns every couple of miles.

I grew up in NJ and still have family there and I agree. It also an incredibly diverse state and, as of now, that diversity is reflected in the state government - more so, I think, than any state government in the country.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#75

Post by yanslookup »

adrr wrote: post #73
yanslookup wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A group of 5 engineers, left to their own devices, would probably produce about $100k worth of value. An effective manager can extract two million dollars worth of value out of those same 5 engineers. If you don't believe this, you may have never had a great manager.

Could say the same thing about athletes and coaches but who makes more in pro sports?

Athletes collectively bargain. Either way, coaching still matters in sports.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#76

Post by randomdata »

mdolon wrote: post #58
elefanten wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like something of your own making. Actual tech employees in the Bay Area are still an overwhelming minority of people. Yes, tech is more of a minority in NY and NY is more of a hub for other industries. But if you only hung out with tech employees in SF, that was a bubble of your own creation.

Having lived in both SOMA and the Mission, I wholeheartedly disagree. The vast majority of people I met at coffee shops, restaurants or bars in the city worked in tech. Living in Manhattan (East Village) and Brooklyn provided a completely different experience. It was a rare to meet people who work in tech. In both circumstances, I haven't been going out of my way to try to meet people in any specific industry.

> Having lived in both SOMA and the Mission, I wholeheartedly disagree.

No need to rely on anecdotes though. According to San Francisco’s Controller’s Office, a little over 6% of the population work in the tech industry[1]. That is an unquestionably small minority of the overall population.

If the people you have met predominantly worked in tech, it is likely due to a bubble you created yourself. Perhaps, for example, the majority of the population outside of tech cannot afford to spend time at those coffee shops and restaurants?

[1] https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/why-san-francisco-...

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#77

Post by austinshea »

jimmy1 wrote: post #68
dr_ wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm raising my family in NYC, I disagree that it's one of the worst imaginable places to try and raise a family. There are a lot of activities for children, from the parks, to indoor play areas, to the libraries, etc. You can just about anything you need by walking. The public schools have been improving - you can try for one of the elite gifted and talented schools but even if that doesn't work out, there are many m…

Until you try to raise your children somewhere elsewhere, I will take your comment with a huge grain of salt. Compared to where I am now, it just simply doesn't compare. I don't care about the city being my living room. My backyard is mountains, and trees, and fresh air, and creeks and streams, and endless opportunities for my children to go outside, get dirty, and explore.

If you don’t care about being in the city, and do care about being close to nature, then that’s an obvious choice.

That being said, I don’t want to raise my kids out there. I want my kids surrounded by many cultures, and to have access to the arts that NYC provides.

It just is a no brainer for me.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#78

Post by giantsloth »

cddotdotslash wrote: post #5

The best part about tech in NYC is that it isn't a non-stop, in-your-face bubble the way that it is in SF/SJ. I work in tech but enjoy having friends in fashion, finance, real estate, advertising, etc. The conversations here are much more diverse. Interestingly, that same diversity helps improve the tech sector.

I find statements like this both cringe and problematic. The heavy emphasis on industry defined identity is creepy, extremely impersonal, and backwards.

I've been a software developer in advertising, various startups and have friends in fashion and finance. While sure you can get some interesting insights into their industries, for example Gucci's new operating room spread is dope af, or the fact that hedge funds year over year make 20% on average using their "genius quants" (aka insider trading), I find that the actual people themselves are a relatively homogenous subculture across industries. That is a typically upper middle class white with a BS/BA in econ/finance/cs/communications who got "really drunk" in college, "loves" IPAs now and does sober February's as a challenge.

These are all various shades of yuppie identity non-diverse in thought, culture, or world perspective. They are boring.

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#79

Post by seanmcdirmid »

erubin wrote: post #57
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seattle has better connections to Asia, given the way planes travel it is closer to Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul than any other major American city besides anchorage.

Unlike Anchorage you can actually fly to those places straight from Seattle as a commercial passenger.

Yep, you can only fly direct from Anchorage if you go in a box :).

Re: Tech takes over: New York is the sector's second city

#80

Post by zintinio5 »

stevepike wrote: post #54
JustAnotherPat wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYC has a lot of java based jobs. Some python, very few ruby ones (compared to the Bay Area at least). It isn't so easy finding certain types of jobs in NYC.

To chime in from the employers perspective, we've found it hard to find full-stack web developers in NYC with more than a years' experience in a dynamic language (we use ruby, but are happy to train people on the specific stack). There's a lot of talent at the recent boot camp grad level and experienced folks in finance. Would love any tips on attracting solid mid-senior talent in NYC.

First, what does your careers page look like? Sometimes the job description is unclear or you might be filtering out qualified people. Second, mid-senior is really tough to hire for, I just experienced it first-hand while hiring for my last employer. Regardless of experience level, you are forced to compete on two fronts: interesting work, or high compensation. Mid-senior devs can afford to be very picky and if something seems a little bit off, they'll look elsewhere.

Have you partnered yet with a recruiting company? I personally just went through TripleByte and they could use a few more NYC partners. They do their own pre-selection of candidates to save everyone involved a lot of time. Another good one is FunctionalWorks. Meetups are also pretty good for making organic connections with higher-quality devs. Every time I go to a tech meetup at least 3 or 4 employers are represented and hiring.

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