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Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

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Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#611
post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People are leaving because quality of life has fallen dramatically and the only thing keeping people in SF was their offices. What are these quality of life issues, and how have other cities avoided them?

SF has an extreme homelessness problem, there are places where you can walk two blocks from posh shops to tent lined streets and open air drug markets. Working at a previous gig had me looking at the ground carefully to avoid stepping on needles, feces, and humans, all of which were nearly daily obstacles. Because of the mild weather and culture, SF is somewhat of a destination for the homeless which is less of an is…

That you have an affluent area on one block and a poor area on the next is not new at all. it was like that back in the 80s. And it's probably a good thing, in terms of making it easy to climb the ladder. If you live in a wasteland of poor people you'll never be able to sell any services at all, or make any money, or climb the ladder.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#612

Putting any valid criticism of this article aside, anecdotally, I know a bunch of people who have either left or are in the process of leaving California in the last few months. One of them just left SF. In other news, one of my cousins is seriously working towards moving out of NY. 3 of my team members have moved to smaller parts of the country. Simply speaking, my gut tells me this isn't just about San Francisco. T…

This is a real and global trend. Same thing is happening in European capitals right now. People, especially singles and young couples, are wondering why they are paying a huge portion of their income in rent in order to be in the city, when they can't go out anyway. Almost all big companies are working remote. If you are not too tied down, it's obvious to make the move. I don't think most people realize how similar t…

What are you talking about? There is nothing of the sort happening...

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#613

Earlier quoted context omitted.

as someone who's lived in SF for years this is all very true. Food is expensive and a lot of it's designed to be instagrammed. There are definitely some great spots but not that many and really not that diverse (lacks middle eastern, greek, british, American bbq, spanish) Nightlife is horrible, bars pretty much close at 1am, hardly any live music, gender imbalance, and not much density so it often just feels "dead" i…

> Nightlife is horrible, bars pretty much close at 1am, hardly any live music, gender imbalance, and not much density so it often just feels "dead" in a lot of places As a southern Californian, I can attest to this. It's pathetic that our bars have last call at 2am (effectively many close at 1:30a). There's been push after push to get last-call to 4am like it is in NY but they never go anywhere in the state legislatu…

I think it's silly that they even close. What's the point? Can someone enlighten me on why bars and stuff close at 1am? Thanks!

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#615

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i have an honest question here. i haven't lived in sf -just visited. i have however been to most states and about 40 countries for comparison. food - most of what i saw was not good food. hipsterish overpriced food made by chefs trying to show off by putting a twist on dishes -not to be good, just to be different or weird. tiny portions, not tasting above average, on a huge plate. all presentation, not actual taste.…

If you think San Francisco has poor quality food, you clearly haven’t spent much time there (as you admit) or you don’t have very discerning taste. California grows the majority of the country’s produce and most everyone else is getting the same ingredients a few days later. Farm to table is the standard instead of something that starts at $25/plate like in most US cities The city could be more dense in some areas bu…

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Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think San Francisco has poor quality food, you clearly haven’t spent much time there (as you admit) or you don’t have very discerning taste. California grows the majority of the country’s produce and most everyone else is getting the same ingredients a few days later. Farm to table is the standard instead of something that starts at $25/plate like in most US cities The city could be more dense in some areas bu…

i did not say poor quality food. i said very average food, overpresented artistically and overpriced. farm to table isn't good for meat -aged meat is better. aged about a month. sushi -yes. except very little sushi from what i saw in sf. a lot of weird rolls, which is not sushi to me. good sushi was in tokyo, where i have lived for several months. fresh produce is shipped overnight anywhere nowadays. being near a far…

> "farm to table isn't good for meat -aged meat is better."

"farm to table" does not mean the meat is not aged. It just means the restaurant buys directly from the farm. No good restaurant would ever serve you an un-aged steak.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#618

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your friends are how representative of SF people? 1. Going on a road trip right now is a very bad idea 2. Most normal people don't have the ability (I guess if you're a high performer in tech?) to move to another high income English speaking country. 3. Moving to Santa Cruz is a joke if you're worried about cost of living. 4. Same with Austin.

Why is going on a road trip a bad idea? I mean bring a mask, only shop weekly and keep food refrigerated, and keep social distance.

My van had a back-end that was size approprate to fit a YETI brand cooler (Tundra 45) between the raised platform in the back of the van and the seat backs so I could get in and out of it easily while having it to write on or use my laptop computer on (it doubled as a desk when I felt like sitting indian style on the floor of my van). This was essential and I could rely on fresh fruit all the time kept in the back of my van along with well various other fresh produce.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#619
post #4

I applaud this trend. I am in the 60% of people[1] who prefer to work from home, and spend more time with loved ones and less time rushing to get to the office. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/business/pandemic-work-fr...

I’m very skeptical that 60% of all people prefer to work from home. In my experience, it’s a small but vocal minority who don’t value the social component of an office. I think work from home should totally be optional, but why do work-from-homers assume that everyone else likes to work that way? I do not.

I loved it until it got really hot. No air conditioning sucks. It does drain my desire to do anything, including work lol. I feel like just sitting in front of a fan with my mind totally blank. Or maybe going to the beach or something.

Other than that? No fucking contest! At home, I have a more comfortable desk and chair, and everything is setup exactly how I want it. I can play my favorite music on my speakers, meaning I don't have to wear headphones, and I don't have to hear all the chatter from people who work on crap I don't give 2 fucks about.

I suppose that last part is relevant only if you work at a company that does a lot more than just produce software. I work in an office with ~300 people, and only about 20 of us are programmers. It's 2 giant rooms, and we don't have enough meeting rooms, so I'm constantly hearing about shipping things, billing things, stuff that other people in the other engineering departments are concerned about, and so on.

At home? None of that. Oh that's so nice.

Plus I can live wherever, I don't have to deal with commuting, and the office isn't really in a particularly alluring location anyway.

I suppose it'd be different if I was a That'd be legit. As it is, when I take a phone call I have to walk outside and usually my call is interrupted by someone driving by with no exhaust on their civic or something. Grr.

Re: Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall

#620
post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I was able to get a large, modern, luxury 1BR in a decent location for under $3K This sounds like a joke about just how absurd SF rents are.

I actually re-read the comment to see if he said 3BR. Was disappointed to find that it was 3k for 1BR, absolutely not imaginable in my salary.

Six figure salaries are the norm for software engineers in SF. Hard not to be able to afford a 3k rent as a software engineer.
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