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Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

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Re: Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

#71

Post by aaronbrethorst »

rdouble wrote: post #35
yellowbkpk wrote: post #8

Meanwhile, here in Minneapolis (really could apply to any upper Midwest city like Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, etc.): Pros: - If you like seasons, you get them. - Excellent beer. Many bars. Great nitelife. - Clean. No poop on the streets, even in the worse parts of the city. - Great public transportation (except Milwaukee). - Cheap rent (2BR for $1500 along the river with a view of the skyline) - Many excellent CS de…

I'm from MN and my family still lives in and around Minneapolis. It's a great area, if you can handle the winter. The main con for a hacker is that the tech scene is grim. The jobs are very boring and the salaries in general are pretty bad. In addition, the jobs that do exist are usually really out in the burbs. Every so often I go through the motions of creating a cost of living spreadsheet and even with the cheaper…

This is exactly why I left Minneapolis for Seattle as soon as I had my degree. That, and the sushi is generally bad.

Re: Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

#72

Post by Klonoar »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #70
m0nastic wrote: post #64

I'll throw in my comments about Washington D.C./Northern Virginia. I've lived here about ten years (first five in Northern Virginia, the past five in downtown DC) Pros: 1.) The tech community here is actually quite good. It definitely feels like it's gotten better since I've lived here. There's no shortage of smart folks working on cool things, even if they are a little more spread out geographically. 2.) While I wou…

I was just in DC for the first time last weekend and thought Pizzeria Paradiso in Dupont Circle was, all things considered, pretty tasty. I don't think it's as good as Via Tribunali here in Seattle, but I certainly enjoyed it.

Try Pete's in Columbia Heights. Been living in DC for a few years now, probably the best I found by far.

Re: Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

#73

Post by RyanGWU82 »

m0nastic wrote: post #64

I'll throw in my comments about Washington D.C./Northern Virginia. I've lived here about ten years (first five in Northern Virginia, the past five in downtown DC) Pros: 1.) The tech community here is actually quite good. It definitely feels like it's gotten better since I've lived here. There's no shortage of smart folks working on cool things, even if they are a little more spread out geographically. 2.) While I wou…

I used to live in Washington and I thought it was a great place for a semi-foodie like myself. There are certainly some great "uber-expensive" restaurants there, but there are a lot that don't break the bank. Matchbox, Heritage India, Jaleo, Luigi's, Old Glory...

I loved the pizza at Armand's (Chicago-style) and 2 Amys (Neapolitan).

Northern Virginia dining could be hit-or-miss, but the Great American Restaurants chain was my absolute favorite. The food and the service at all of their restaurants is top-notch. Have you been to Coastal Flats/Sweetwater Tavern/etc.?

Re: Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

#74

Post by lisper »

billpaetzke wrote: post #16
sahillavingia wrote: post #10

What are your guys' opinions about LA? Coming from Singapore it's a huge step up, but I'm sure SF is far crazier.

LA is okay. Probably is between 3rd-10th position of tech hubs. If you really like the culture, weather, nightlife, or have ties to the city, then you'll do fine staying. You could probably start a decent company. USC, UCLA, and CalTech have fine CS depts. The entertainment and aerospace industries are strong here. That's why MySpace (originally social for musicians) and SpaceX (a new space-vehicle startup) work well…

I lived in LA for 22 years. It grew on me. But LA takes practice. And I never felt as at-home there as I do in the SF Bay area after just four months living up here.

SF traffic is NOTHING compared to LA. Traffic in LA can be truly nightmarish, especially on the West Side. An hour to go five miles is not uncommon on certain routes during the rush hour.

The entertainment industry dominates the culture. Phoniness is the norm. On the other hand, if you like peeling back the curtain and seeing the gritty reality behind the glitz and glamour there is no place like it. And because LA is crawling with highly talented out-of-work actors, there's really great theatre at very reasonable prices.

Re: Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

#75

Post by guelo »

m0nastic wrote: post #64

I'll throw in my comments about Washington D.C./Northern Virginia. I've lived here about ten years (first five in Northern Virginia, the past five in downtown DC) Pros: 1.) The tech community here is actually quite good. It definitely feels like it's gotten better since I've lived here. There's no shortage of smart folks working on cool things, even if they are a little more spread out geographically. 2.) While I wou…

I made the move from DC/NoVA to SF and couldn't be happier. I've done some job hoping in both places and can say that the work culture in SF is more lose, fun and creative.

Re: Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

#76

Post by [deleted] »

jscore wrote: post #57

I have a love/hate relationship with SF after living here for many many years since 2000. I'm from NYC originally (and finally back) and here are my thoughts after shuttling back and forth for many years. PROS 1. It's probably the safest, relatively big (~ 1M) city that I've ever been to. And I've traveled a lot throughout US and the world. If something bad happens to you in SF, you've really, really should hone your…

[deleted]

Re: Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

#77

Post by akgerber »

steveklabnik wrote: post #52
look_lookatme wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My friends that have gone to CMU all say the same. What are the ideal neighborhoods for someone coming from SF or NYC? I'm thinking with bars and restaurants and a general nightlife-ish, walkable vibe.

The biggest ones: * Oakland is where Pitt is at. It's got tons of college kids running around everywhere, with tons of bars and places to eat. * Shadyside is where all of those kids go after they graduate. It's where I'm sitting right now. More families, but still a bunch of stuff to do. Can be expensive (oh wait, you're coming from NYC/SF, it's dirt cheap, nevermind) if you don't look around. * CMU is located on the…

Punks have abandoned the South Side & live in Bloomfield and Lawrenceville now. Both are older Italian neighborhoods. The South Side is full of bros at night.

You can seriously buy decent houses for well under $100k.

Re: Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

#78

Post by dannnnnnnnnniel »

jscore wrote: post #57

I have a love/hate relationship with SF after living here for many many years since 2000. I'm from NYC originally (and finally back) and here are my thoughts after shuttling back and forth for many years. PROS 1. It's probably the safest, relatively big (~ 1M) city that I've ever been to. And I've traveled a lot throughout US and the world. If something bad happens to you in SF, you've really, really should hone your…

Interesting did you move there for a startup? Or just for the city?

Re: Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

#79

Post by RyanGWU82 »

potatolicious wrote: post #67
nikcub wrote: post #38

Seattle reminds me of London. Sure the weather sucks and it is raining all the time, but the people make up for it by being awesome to each other. People in sunny cities tend to be dicks[1] Some of my fav cities in the world are those I least expected to be awesome. [1] not a scientific study but exhibit A: Los Angeles

Have you heard of the Seattle Freeze? Basically it goes like this: the locals here (people who grew up/went to school here) are incredibly resentful of "transplants" who came from elsewhere, mostly to work in the tech industries here. We're blamed for anything from turning Seattle from a sleepy laid-back town into a monstrosity of big-city lights (it... isn't), to raising housing prices, to making everything suck mor…

Yes! Glad to see I wasn't the only one who felt this way. I moved to Seattle in 2008 and only stayed for about 7 months before I had to leave. The people were friendly and polite, but it was impossible to get to know people on more than a superficial level. There were a lot of activities going on -- concerts, summer festivals -- but they weren't good for meeting new people. I didn't have any trouble meeting people in other cities, so I do think it was the Seattle Freeze in action.

Seattle was a perfect city on paper. It's beautiful in the summer and there's waterfront views in every neighborhood. There's a good arts scene for a city of its size, and the cost of living is pretty reasonable. But without any way to build a core group of friends, it was really difficult to handle living there. I had to leave before I went crazy!

Re: Joe Stump: Your city sucks (And so does mine)

#80

Post by bdb27 »

I'll throw in my $.02 about San Diego. I've lived here for about 6 years.

I'll try by topic since most of these can be good or bad depending on your point of view.

Tech Community: I think the tech community here has potential and could become more significant in the future. There is a regular Hacker News meetup, Function Programming meetup, and SHDH. I'll let other speak about the startup scene...

Universities: SDSU and UCSD are the two major Universities down here for tech. UCSD has a lot of good programs in many engineering disciplines and produces a lot of talent. SDSU also has a respectable program in CS.

Weather: There is a single season here and it is summer. Though it comes in different shades, it is always summer to some degree. The nicest time of year is typically Fall and Winter. Summer is cool with an onshore breeze but the city is busy with tourists.

Jobs: There are a lot of jobs here in government, education, biotech, and telecom. Goverment jobs can be either as a government employee or contractor. Mostly DoD related. e.g. Navy, Army, Homeland Security, Coast Guard, etc. I see so much bad software in DoD that it seems ripe for disruption. A talented startup that has the right connections and can leverage lean technologies could put some large high dollar organizations to shame I think. Problem is all the bureaucracy it takes to develop software for the DoD.

Food and Beverage Scene: The food scene here is good I'd say. It's not SF good, but there are lot of options at a reasonable price. Beer scene here is also good. We have a lot of local breweries that have a presence at any respectable bar or restaurant down here.

Activities: SD is one of the most active cities I have seen. With the nice weather all the time there is no shortage of things to do outside. Just pick your poison here. Bike, golf, motocross, run, skateparks, stick and ball sports, surf, swim, etc.

Cost of Living: Cost of living here is relatively high. It's cheaper than SF and NY though but probably more expensive than other places mentioned. There is a good variety of housing in different neighborhoods at various price points though.

Military town: There is a notable military presence here. Between the Navy at Coronado and the Marines at Camp Pendleton your gonna cross path with marines and sailors regularly.

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