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Tech elites leaving San Francisco threaten Silicon Valley's supremacy

businessinsider.com

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

#721

Post by season2episode3 »

philwelch wrote: post #656
ianmobbs wrote: post #574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you really saying that it's harder to be a techie than LGBT in San Francisco?

I can't speak to San Francisco, but in Seattle at least, I never saw any flyers or graffiti telling LGBT people they were unwelcome and should leave town, nor did I ever encounter political discourse that LGBT people were somehow ruining the city, or scapegoating the LGBT community for local issues. So in my personal experience as an LGBT software engineer, I wouldn't be surprised if San Francisco was the same way.

I bike by "Go Home Tech Bro" stickers on stop signs pretty frequently in Seattle

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

#722

Post by rightbyte »

ketamine__ wrote: post #685
busterarm wrote: post #660

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cold is fine. Getting robbed at gunpoint isn't. That's the real Chicago you have to contend with.

Never happened to me or my friends. And apparently there's less poop on the sidewalks than SF.

I don't know anyone that died of Covid. I wash my hands and are not walking around in Chicago.

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

#723

Post by twblalock »

reddog wrote: post #715
ghaff wrote: post #637

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And SF wrt cars only to some degree. I know a couple who decamped to SF and sold their cars when their kids got older. They do indeed live without owning cars. They also use Ubers, ZipCars, and regular rental all the time. I think a lot depends on what you're used to. I think a lot of folks accept the limited mobility they knew through school when they graduate. It becomes less acceptable as they get older. Many exce…

>They do indeed live without owning cars. They also use Ubers, ZipCars, and regular rental all the time. Is there that much of a difference between owning a car and renting a car or using Zip or having a chauffer (Lyft, Uber, taxis) tote you around? I'd get rid of my car too if I could afford to have Uber haul me everywhere.

Parking in SF tends to really suck, and at least if you take an Uber you don't need to circle the neighborhood for half an hour to find a spot.

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

#724

Post by manfredo »

ianmobbs wrote: post #574
philwelch wrote: post #563

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At some point the basic maintenance of law and order (or conversely the refusal to do so) takes precedence over walkability or the local art and culture scene. As for tolerance, West Coast cities are rapidly developing a social and political milieu that is openly hostile towards the tech industry to a much greater degree than Austin or Miami (to name two examples from the article) are hostile to LGBT people.

Are you really saying that it's harder to be a techie than LGBT in San Francisco?

When I lived in SF it was socially acceptable to openly degrade tech workers. Nancy Pelosi's daughter went on TV and called SF tech workers "vermin" and "invaders" and described the presence of tech works as an "infestation". Open hostility and dehumanization is condoned. In no way did I feel oppressed, but it did come off as tone deaf the way people on one breath say stuff like that and in the next complain about how tech workers weren't invested in the community.

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

#725

Post by programd »

rmrfstar wrote: post #433
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A local government is only as good as its people. It's people squandered it, though forcing egregious zoning regulations that's leading to the exodus. They claimed profits to the point where it damaged their ability to collect further profits.

Isn't SF wildly corrupt? Do the puppet masters bear any responsibility for the outcomes they orchestrate? Or is stewardship an obsolete concept?

Yes SF is apparently wildly corrupt. There's an ongoing FBI probe which seems to show that a wide swath of top level city public works employees have been involved in some sort of corruption scandal. The latest revelation is about the former mayor Ed Lee who died last year. Follow the links in the article for all the tentacles in this farce.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/Forme...

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

#726

Post by tlear »

apta wrote: post #213
camjohnson26 wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As if every Californian is the same politically.

In aggregate, they seem to be. Most vote for dems who want to increase taxes. In a country with a two party system, it's basically the same as bringing their entire policies with them.

Well they defeated prop 16, which every dem and their grandma campaigned and donated for.

Maybe there is hope? Not likely but who knows

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

#727

Post by tempsy »

habosa wrote: post #689

In the last 10-15 years San Francisco gained a ton of residents that didn't want to be there at all. They moved there because the job opportunities in tech were too hard to turn down. I had some friends like this, they just never really liked the city. Now they're all leaving because their job is not making them stay. That's fine and I'm happy they have more choices now. But there's a flip side to that. One of my lea…

This story is insanely misleading though. Everyone here is talking about why the tech elite are leaving due to the quality of life when Keith Rabois specifically has like 3-4 IPOs he was an early investor in going public right now and makes no sense to stay in California in 2021 and pay state capital gains taxes on those sales.

Same with Elon Musk and Tesla’s absurd stock price. And probably a lot of other people given the hot IPO market.

Point is it’s so disingenuous for these people to say it’s because of SF or California when it has everything to do with taxes and not much else.

To blast the Bay Area and state which made them rich and then flee before they owe a penny is gross.

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

#728

Post by nostrademons »

habosa wrote: post #689

In the last 10-15 years San Francisco gained a ton of residents that didn't want to be there at all. They moved there because the job opportunities in tech were too hard to turn down. I had some friends like this, they just never really liked the city. Now they're all leaving because their job is not making them stay. That's fine and I'm happy they have more choices now. But there's a flip side to that. One of my lea…

I moved out to Silicon Valley in 2009. Downturns are the best years. They flush out all the folks who are hoping to get rich fast by peddling snake oil, and leave behind the folks who are building, who are inventing, who are a little bit weird, or who just love the beautiful weather. The next tech boom starts when somebody finds a crazy invention useful; that's a lot easier when people are living ordinary lives than when everybody's chasing a hot fad.

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

#729

Post by tootie »

rpearl wrote: post #555

Nobody really brings up that the bay area is one of few places in the US where you can live without a car. Really, even compared to other "walkable" cities beyond a select few, similarly expensive places. Nobody really brings up that the bay area has better LGBT and other minority protections than anywhere in the US, either. Every time someone mentions cheap midwest cities I have to pull up https://crossingenres.com/…

I live in NYC and feel the same but a lot of people just don't. They don't want culture or liberalism. In fact, I've seen a marked rise in conservatism and racism in the industry.

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

#730

Post by brandonscott »

kodah wrote: post #608
ericmay wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, mostly. The bottom is still decently high even in Midwest cities. But if you’re making $140,000 + RSU/Bonus/Etc., someone from somewhere else will do that job remotely for $100,000 easy. But I would characterize this as a wealth distribution, and overall net positive for the country. People who don’t have the opportunities to work at the top companies in the Bay Area or NYC or Boston now have better access.…

Former Texan here! You will not get RSU's or bonuses as an engineer in Texas. You will get cash and insurance. If you doubt me, feel free to go on an interview and ask about those things! I can tell you there's a reason I left Texas and it's because cash doesn't do to your savings what RSU's and bonuses will.

I'm an engineer in Austin. We definitely get bonuses and I have RSUs at my current company.
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