Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

This Is Silicon Valley

onezero.medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 227 posts

Re: This Is Silicon Valley

#101

Post by conanbatt »

throwaway-1283 wrote: post #58
crushcrashcrush wrote: post #25

I'm gonna offer a slightly different perspective: SV isn't that nice, and it's not worth the price premium. There is a distinct lack of culture, of nightlife, of arts and humanities - even in San Francisco. We're a mediocre land of strip malls and suburbs masquerading as an international destination. Go to any other city and tell me that it's not MORE vibrant (Chicago, LA, NYC, Miami, Austin, Portland, Seattle, Houst…

The price premium you are paying, especially for housing, is really all about raising kids e.g. sending them to some of the best (albeit pressure-filled) public schools in the country all while keeping your high paying SV jobs. Basically assume that the quality of public SV schools are high enough that high earning parents are "OK" sending their kids to those schools rather than paying for private school. If you have…

As a 6 figure salary worker in SV, you get fleeced. You have worse housing options, worse schooling options, worse public transportations and highest tax rates in the country.

SV is not expensive because "public schools are good". Its expensive because both the government and the landlords, that have a huge intersectino of people, capture the largest chunk of the surplus tech workers get.

Re: This Is Silicon Valley

#103

Post by crushcrashcrush »

ericd wrote: post #94
mykowebhn wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree about the lack of culture, but I'm not sure it's much better anywhere else in the US. I used to love NYC for its out-there, underground cultural options, but now it just feels like a mall geared for tourists.

Have you lived in NYC? I don’t get this sense at all, as long as I stay away from the touristy parts of Manhattan.

Sounds like NYC = SoHo (which still has more culture in a single block than the entirety of the South Bay.)

Re: This Is Silicon Valley

#104

Post by uxp100 »

jiveturkey wrote: post #42

Interesting juxtaposition of non-PC "black" and PC "latinx" in the same sentence! Surely that says something about the author although I'm not quite sure what.

I think black is the "PC" term. Poc is more broad, and african-american is seen as outdated to some. It certainly reflects different ideas of one's identity.

Re: This Is Silicon Valley

#105

Post by 0xBABAD00C »

mykowebhn wrote: post #76
crushcrashcrush wrote: post #25

I'm gonna offer a slightly different perspective: SV isn't that nice, and it's not worth the price premium. There is a distinct lack of culture, of nightlife, of arts and humanities - even in San Francisco. We're a mediocre land of strip malls and suburbs masquerading as an international destination. Go to any other city and tell me that it's not MORE vibrant (Chicago, LA, NYC, Miami, Austin, Portland, Seattle, Houst…

I agree about the lack of culture, but I'm not sure it's much better anywhere else in the US. I used to love NYC for its out-there, underground cultural options, but now it just feels like a mall geared for tourists.

It really isn't though, it's still miles ahead of SV (I have lived and worked in both areas)

Re: This Is Silicon Valley

#106

Post by mykowebhn »

crushcrashcrush wrote: post #80
mykowebhn wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree about the lack of culture, but I'm not sure it's much better anywhere else in the US. I used to love NYC for its out-there, underground cultural options, but now it just feels like a mall geared for tourists.

Brooklyn, Miami (wynwood), Chicago, Austin, Portland (WEIRD!), Seattle, LA (creative as all hell) - it is better elsewhere. Even midwestern cities (Pittsburg, Cleveland, etc - really great!)

I'm seriously interested. What do you think makes Pittsburg, Cleveland, etc a "better" cultural destination than NYC. Examples would be great.

BTW, I live near Portland, and while I do love it and its weirdness, I wouldn't call it the most culturally sophisticated city I've lived in, at least in some respects. For example, the Oregon Symphony has this concert listed in its calendar: https://www.orsymphony.org/concerts-tickets/1819/sci-fi-at-t.... While cool, I wouldn't call it "better" culturally.

Re: This Is Silicon Valley

#107

Post by conanbatt »

crushcrashcrush wrote: post #43
conanbatt wrote: post #11

Its a rant but I'm also surprised at how she writes "people's perfect life". Whats perfect about San Francisco, that has such a low demographic representation of family, the city is super dirty, people live with 6 figure salaries live in terrible housing conditions. Maybe google gets to shelter their employees from a lot of the cruft of SF, but walk 2 blocks away from the google offices in SF and you'll get yelled at…

I also look at this as - individuals have so much wealth, along with these companies, yet no one is doing a single fucking thing to help the homeless. Facebook and Google could reverse their negative PR so quickly if they actually put some money meaningfully toward the problem, not into fake tax shelters for their founders.

Its true private could solve it, but there is a crowding out effect as well as a double-charging effect. The city announces it spends 400 million on homelessness and fails, while it spends 2600U$S a month per household.

If you are a private worker you pay a monopoly surplus to the landlord and then get taxed to hell, and then you would give charity to help the homelessness the previous two mostly provoke?

Hell no.

Re: This Is Silicon Valley

#109

Post by 0xBABAD00C »

crushcrashcrush wrote: post #86
jiveturkey wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> SV isn't that nice, and it's not worth the price premium. For lifestyle, yes. For the opportunities in tech, there's no place like it. Before you name the other not quite as good tech hubs, yes there is opportunity but not like there is here.

Agreed with you on this, but I'm in Marketing so I can go anywhere I'd like for similar opportunities. But 100% agreed that if you're an engineer or programmer, you need to be here.

> if you're an engineer or programmer, you need to be here

no you don't, this is completely inaccurate

Re: This Is Silicon Valley

#110

Post by robterrell »

cknoxrun wrote: post #64
cabaalis wrote: post #36

> So, I’m leaving. But I do hope to come back someday. You've made what I think is a good choice. Don't turn it into a bad one by just going to some different urban center. You will learn that there are hard-working, good-natured, intelligent people all over the country living in very diverse neighborhoods. They understand math and engineering just as well as you do, yet they are constantly told they are flyover hick…

I live and co-founded my current company in a colder northern Canadian city. Often we get derided by larger urban centres in Canada, similar to being labeled "flyover" country. But what I've found is that there is a sweet spot in terms of city size (mine is about 1 million) where the community feels small enough that people seem to legitimately care about each other, and champion each other's successes, but the benef…

What city is this?
Post reply on HN