Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy • Hacker News Board

Re: Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

#291

Post by jarjoura » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 6:50 PM UTC

maxwell wrote: post #256

jarjoura wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

William Shockley graduated from CalTech, and his connections from CalTech, more specifically Arnold Beckman, funded his new venture in silicon transistors. It's true that Shockley picked Palo Alto because of his mother, but it would be unfair to not also credit Stanford who had an outsized role in helping solidify the Bay Area as the hub for "Silicon Valley". Many many many companies tried to move the industry away f…

Okay, so if California's "free-wheeling culture" caused SV to be where it is, what factored into CA's cultural development? Why the lack of free-wheeling culture elsewhere?

I mean, just look at California's history. If people were willing to upend their lives since the 1800s to move their families to the other side of the country on vague things like the promise of striking it rich somehow, those people probably had distinct personalities. Every one of California's strongest industries have been because people escaped where they were to go strike it rich (in money or fame).

Wine, Movies, Farming, Banking, Education, Tech.

California is just a state with a long history with a weird mixture of entrepreneurs you won't find elsewhere.

Re: Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

#292

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 6:50 PM UTC

Arubis wrote: post #71

Having read this headline ad infinium over the last 20 years or so, I will believe this when the majority of VCs move out of, and not "keep a place" in, the Bay Area. Other places have and will continue to develop, and that's great! But the center of gravity is going to remain where you can get face time with investors.

[deleted]

Re: Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

#293

Post by standardUser » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 6:50 PM UTC

Arubis wrote: post #71

Having read this headline ad infinium over the last 20 years or so, I will believe this when the majority of VCs move out of, and not "keep a place" in, the Bay Area. Other places have and will continue to develop, and that's great! But the center of gravity is going to remain where you can get face time with investors.

Keen observers will notice a dozen or more US-based tech hubs emerging in those 20 years. Twenty years ago, where else would you go for a promising/lucrative tech career? Today, you can pick a state!

Re: Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

#294

Post by allcentury » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 6:51 PM UTC

residentfoam wrote: post #137

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #70

I'd love to hear from people who want to stay in the Bay area what is unique that you cannot find elsewhere in cheaper locales. I lived in Mountain View for 3 months during 500 startups and the valley proper was the most garden variety suburban existence you could find anywhere. I lived in SF proper off and on and can attest that it certainly has (had?) fantastic restaurants/shops and a particular type of culture tha…

If I could, I'd leave tomorrow, but, besides tech, there is another unique aspect of Bay Area: the Biotech scene. My wife works in Biotech and the only other alternative for us would be the Boston area. But, after running some numbers pro/cons, the Bay Area wins. So we are stuck here ... for now.

Depends - Boston can be cheaper if you don't have a big commute and the public transportation can help. Source: I've lived in both.

Re: Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

#295

Post by d1zzy » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 6:51 PM UTC

jeffreyrogers wrote: post #209

camjohnson26 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s a ridiculous take. There’s a lot of technical talent trapped in the Bay Area and I welcome it in my region. Treating every resident as if they agree with the repressive SF politics is over generalizing. And who’s full? The main thing the flyover states need is more people.

There does seem to be a strong correlation between large influx of former California residents and increasing social problems.

Is this effect stronger with California residents relocating in particular or it will happen with any other residents relocating from different educational/social/political/economic background?

Re: Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

#296

Post by hindsightbias » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 6:51 PM UTC

gonehome wrote: post #159

camjohnson26 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s a ridiculous take. There’s a lot of technical talent trapped in the Bay Area and I welcome it in my region. Treating every resident as if they agree with the repressive SF politics is over generalizing. And who’s full? The main thing the flyover states need is more people.

The irony is it's the 'fuck off we're full' people that have made CA policy shitty. It's the NIMBY anti-change response to policy. The people that want a strong economy, incentivize building housing, and adapting lead to positive non-zero-sum outcomes. The people that say "fuck off we're full" block any policy and create perverse incentives that create a dysfunctional mess. This is ignoring the selection bias that th…

The first "we're full" bumper sticker I ever saw was Austin in 1998. RIP Travis Heights, East Austin.

It's not like most of the SFBA fleeing refugees here were natives. They were kids from schools MI, NY, PA, IL and TX. The Menlo Park, Mountain View equivalents entrenched in West Austin are pretty fed up already so we'll see how it all turns out in 5 -10 years as the nextgen 3.0 descend on Silicon Hills.

Re: Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

#297

Post by coldtea » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 6:51 PM UTC

renewiltord wrote: post #73

gedy wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you are a political junky reading news all day - what practically speaking is so intolerable about living there or your neighbors?

It's hard to describe to people who are both White and American. That's not because they're inherently incapable of understanding. It's just a problem you don't face as much so you don't understand it. It's like how for most of my life I barely understood the mitigating measures women take in many situations where I don't even notice the situation.

>It's hard to describe to people who are both White and American

Many immigrants are even more religious and/or convervative than "White and American".

Just of a different culture.

Re: Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

#298

Post by coffee » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 6:51 PM UTC

birdyrooster wrote: post #107

sandworm101 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> and still come out ahead financially. Ya. Earning a SF wage but living elsewhere is great. But there is a flip side to this coin. As employees realize they can work from home, employers also realize they can have employees work from home. They will soon realize they don't need to pay SF wages. Those who convert their in-office jobs into work-from-home are a covid oddity. Those who will be hired in the future on th…

We’ve been trying to hire these people for ages locally and remotely and we still couldn’t find them so I have no idea where you think all the talent was hiding until covid 19.

The bigger problem that I've run into is that most employers don't know how to recognize talent.

Re: Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

#299

Post by vmception » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 6:52 PM UTC

corytheboyd wrote: post #57

It sucks to be locked up in the apartment watching my favorite places die. I grew up with San Francisco in my life, and have lived here myself for 10 years. Just trying to give out some positive energy for this place, but also it deserves all of the negative comments lol. Anyway, I too am moving on, San Francisco (in February), thanks for helping make me who I am today :)

You see the irony right? I'm only mocking the gatekeeping done in SF but they'd say you would have no claim to "watching SF die" if you moved there in the last ten years, because you killed it.

Rents have only dropped to levels seen in the last few years lol, and will just "crater" to 2010 levels once tech and students finish leaving.

Re: Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

#300

Post by gamblor956 » Mon, Dec 07, 2020, 6:52 PM UTC

renewiltord wrote: post #73

gedy wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you are a political junky reading news all day - what practically speaking is so intolerable about living there or your neighbors?

It's hard to describe to people who are both White and American. That's not because they're inherently incapable of understanding. It's just a problem you don't face as much so you don't understand it. It's like how for most of my life I barely understood the mitigating measures women take in many situations where I don't even notice the situation.

I'm sure that Midwesterners are super polite to other white people, but it was definitely not my experience there as a minority.

I was born in the US but my ethnicity is visually ambiguous and people assume I'm Mexican, Filipino, or Indian (in that order) based on the type of brown person they grew up with. In CA, no one particularly cares what type of brown person I am. But when I lived in Ohio, I was told that I should "go back home where [I] came from", that I'm one of the good ones and should bring more of my family over, or that I'm "stealing jobs from honest Americans," based on whether the redneck in question thought I was Mexican, Filipino, or Indian. My cousin and his wife, in Indiana, used to experience the same harassment regularly until they started wearing their scrubs everywhere so people would know that they're doctors.

I turned down a very well-paying job in Ohio (and came back to CA) because the people there were so vile.