91–100 of 132 posts
Housing - expensive
Traffic - slow (405)
Walkability - moderate (10 minute walk to any restaurants, 20 to good->great options)
Otherwise, life is great here, especially for families. We're the forgotten beach cities of LA (low on tourism, high on suburbs) so if you love the beach but still want to go to LA a fair amount, it's great.
Boston, MA People drive extremely bad. Like when I say bad, I'm not talking about US-level bad. It's universally bad bad. I grew up in Istanbul, Turkey and people drive there better. As a reference, I lived half a decade in the Bay Area, and compared to Bostonites, people there are driving experts. But what's so bad about people's driving? They're fast all the fucking time, even in streets they're supposed to go 20,…
Interesting, I did not have those issues when I lived in Boston. I wonder if it is more of an area by area thing.
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Can you tell me more about the cultural friction? Driving too?
This is twofold, subject matter and personality. In the former, I've had to excuse myself from conversations because mentioning something I thought was innocuous (e.g. paintball) is apparently unacceptable conversation via being "non-inclusive". In the latter, I can be a brusque individual. I was never particularly aware of this as a problem back east, other people acted similarly and people generally took each other…
You might have first experienced this in the Seattle area, but it is by no means unique geographically. This kind of personality that wants to be offended by everything and everyone is proliferating everywhere.
>if someone talked to me back east I'd probably give them a funny look, a very terse answer, and try to end the conversation ASAP
This sounds a lot like the Seattle Freeze, which has been a long-standing reality. I guess I'm (pleasantly) surprised by your approach of smiling more and seeking to talk to people. Keep it up, it's something we've needed in Seattle for a long time.
As Microsoft / Adobe / whoever else was here in the 80's and 90s money rolled in, Seattle started a cultural shift. I went away to the midwest for college between 1996-2000 and never quite adapted to the shifts. Today I'm there a week out of the month or so and I don't even recognize it; it's not the city I grew up in, in any form.
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Interesting, I did not have those issues when I lived in Boston. I wonder if it is more of an area by area thing.
It is. The traffic issues GP mentions play out very differently in Boston/Brookline, Cambridge/Somerville, and further-out suburbs. There are even "microclimates" within each of those. Out near 128 where I am, the drivers are no worse than other places I've been. (I lived several years in southeast Michigan, now spend significant time in both Silicon Valley and Seattle.) It's the cyclists who are terrors, but that's…
No, it is not a different topic. Please explain. I biked in Berkeley and SF for ~5 years and never had a single problem. I bike Central Square to Kendall Square every day now and can't bike without feeling I'm actively being attempted to get killed. Nobody respects bike lanes here, and if I ever have to use normal car lane (because there is an asshole in the bike lane) people start yelling at me, honking at me, or try to pass me very fast. And this is Cambridge, I can't even begin with Boston where there are no bike lanes; biking in downtown/Fenway/Beacon Hill feels like running in a mine field.
I've biked in a lot of places in the world: Paris, Koln, Berlin, Istanbul, the Bay Area etc... and never felt as unsafe as I feel in Boston.
Harrison, AR Population ~13k 1) There are few restaurants open past ~8pm. That's the one thing I miss most about living in a bigger place. Pizza delivery places are open until 10pm or so, but after that you're pretty much limited to Taco Bell, McDonald's, or Casey's (a gas station, much like WaWa or Sheetz) 2) Lack of a tech community. There are a few people in "tech" around, but the vast majority work for a single c…
A few years ago, I tried to teach a free game programming class in Harrison College under the continued education umbrella - no one signed up.
Tried to start a Raspberry Pi meetup group - no one wanted to meet 'in person' ..
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It is. The traffic issues GP mentions play out very differently in Boston/Brookline, Cambridge/Somerville, and further-out suburbs. There are even "microclimates" within each of those. Out near 128 where I am, the drivers are no worse than other places I've been. (I lived several years in southeast Michigan, now spend significant time in both Silicon Valley and Seattle.) It's the cyclists who are terrors, but that's…
> It's the cyclists who are terrors, but that's a whole different topic. No, it is not a different topic. Please explain. I biked in Berkeley and SF for ~5 years and never had a single problem. I bike Central Square to Kendall Square every day now and can't bike without feeling I'm actively being attempted to get killed. Nobody respects bike lanes here, and if I ever have to use normal car lane (because there is an a…
Vienna, Austria There is hardly anything that really bothers me, the streets and walkways are sometimes dirty and of course everything is kinda crowded all the time, but hey, that's a property every city has.
- A lot of weird and bizarre people on the streets (talking with themselves, bad hygiene etc.)
- Not much respect for old people and pregnant women in public transport (young people will block only elevator, most of the time nobody will offer you seat etc.)
Still there are many more other things which make living in Vienna quite good experience.
You forgot the environment. NYC is full of garbage, not enough parks, and the rivers are so dirty, you're not allowed to swim in them. It's noisy and full of stress. That's why I moved to Hawaii and never looked back. Working remotely is a lot of fun, and is just healthier, both environment-wise and mentally.
Everyone I've ever spoken with about real life in Hawaii has said: 1) Schools are not good, IE for those with kids 2) Food, gas, etc are expensive 3) Tensions with native Hawaiians, ie: "this is a locals-only beach" 4) Island madness is a real thing (desire to be somewhere not surrounded by water, experience an actual change in weather, etc) Have you found that to not be the case?
2) Yes, these things are more expensive, but rent is cheaper for the same size apartment. In our case it was a lot cheaper. As a programmer though, you're in the top 5% anyway, it's all affordable.
3) You treat certain areas as native reservations, because that's what they essentially are. I did hear stories about obnoxious tourists getting a brick in their windshield. Personally, never had a problem with any of the natives, they were all nice to me. Though I do have an accent, maybe it helped.
4) No island madness for me, I love it. Best windsurfing in the world. Cleanest air in the world (besides maybe the polar caps). Cleanest water in the world. Cleanest beaches in the world. Amazing nature, lots of wildlife. No dangerous / poisonous animals or snakes in the jungle. Great climate, and you do get colder winters.
Salt Lake City, UT: 1) Very poor air quality in winter due to inversions. 2) The local popular religion (Mormonism) has an outsized influence on legislation, so there are weird laws surrounding alcohol, business on Sundays, use of downtown property, etc. Outside of SLC proper people assume everyone is Mormon, and one's religion (or lack of it) can affect job opportunities, etc. 3) The city is extremely car-centric, w…
>"2) The local popular religion (Mormonism) has an outsized influence on legislation, so there are weird laws surrounding alcohol, business on Sundays, use of downtown property, etc. Outside of SLC proper people assume everyone is Mormon, and one's religion (or lack of it) can affect job opportunities, etc." This really annoys me as someone who loves the state of Utah. People who don't really know about the Mormons a…
I would not describe the government as a theocracy. Liquor stores aren't open on Sunday and you can't buy full strength beer in the grocery store. Other than that the differences living here vs. elsewhere aren't huge.