Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#1

Post by yrashk » Fri, Sep 05, 2008, 11:27 PM UTC

In regards to my previous submission (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=295139) — I've moved to SF within 24 hrs after that submission and now I am wondering – what is the best area/neighborhood around in terms of possibility to meet startup hackers and/or attend interesting related events, etc.?

Any ideas?

Thanks :)

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#2

Post by jwilliams » Sat, Sep 06, 2008, 12:41 AM UTC

This probably doesn't answer your question directly, but (if you haven't already) I'd recommend taking a look at: http://www.paulgraham.com/marginal.html (and his other essays)

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#3

Post by gibsonf1 » Sat, Sep 06, 2008, 12:50 AM UTC

Last night Yahoo! YUI engineers hosted a meetup for the new 3.0 version at the Brickhouse in Soma. There was also another geek gathering at Cnet and all headed afterwards over to the 21st Amendment Brewery also in Soma. Our office is in Soma, as is Justin.tv and many other startups, so Soma is probably a good area to look around.

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#4

Post by ojbyrne » Sat, Sep 06, 2008, 1:54 AM UTC

jwilliams wrote: post #2

This probably doesn't answer your question directly, but (if you haven't already) I'd recommend taking a look at: http://www.paulgraham.com/marginal.html (and his other essays)

Except that's old news (at least the real estate part of it). All that marginal space has been turned into paying real estate. Not only in SF but in just about every slightly expensive city in North America.

There was an article last week in the NYT about garages and what they add to the value of a property in Manhattan. Its in the millions. Chances are, if you pay a million extra for a garage, at the very least, you're parking a car there.

Admittedly, if you go far enough out in the suburbs, its not the case. But then you're in the suburbs, which has other challenges (transportation, etc).

All that aside, SOMA is where everything happens. If you can't afford to live there look incrementally further south until you find a place that you can live.

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#5

Post by yrashk » Sat, Sep 06, 2008, 2:24 AM UTC

ojbyrne wrote: post #4

jwilliams wrote: post #2

This probably doesn't answer your question directly, but (if you haven't already) I'd recommend taking a look at: http://www.paulgraham.com/marginal.html (and his other essays)

Except that's old news (at least the real estate part of it). All that marginal space has been turned into paying real estate. Not only in SF but in just about every slightly expensive city in North America. There was an article last week in the NYT about garages and what they add to the value of a property in Manhattan. Its in the millions. Chances are, if you pay a million extra for a garage, at the very least, you…

Thanks! I am currently in a hotel in SOMA, but think to move a little bit southwest I guess — I don't want to spend more than $500/wk for rent, and housing is really a bit crazy in SF ;)

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#6

Post by mriley » Sat, Sep 06, 2008, 3:23 AM UTC

The Mission has a pretty high concentration of young people, and a lot of the startup people I know live around there. Rent in the area may be more reasonable than elsewhere but not by much, given its popularity. If you aren't here permanently you might try the Sublets/Temporary Housing section of Craigslist - I had good luck there, and you should be able to find something for less than $500/wk.

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#7

Post by jonmc12 » Sat, Sep 06, 2008, 4:08 AM UTC

Meetup.com is good resource for events, also sf.garysguide.org - helped to give me a feel for what goes on where.

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#8

Post by breck » Sat, Sep 06, 2008, 4:21 AM UTC

mriley wrote: post #6

The Mission has a pretty high concentration of young people, and a lot of the startup people I know live around there. Rent in the area may be more reasonable than elsewhere but not by much, given its popularity. If you aren't here permanently you might try the Sublets/Temporary Housing section of Craigslist - I had good luck there, and you should be able to find something for less than $500/wk.

500 per week??

so less than 2k per month? that seems pretty pricey...about to move into the mission and paying 800/mo.

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#9

Post by Frocer » Sat, Sep 06, 2008, 4:56 AM UTC

We just moved our startup to the Bay Area a couple of weeks ago :) My partner and I found a temporary place in Mountain View for the next few weeks while we look for a more permanent place -- but everyone has recommended us to either live in SF or Palo Alto.

We should meet up some time once you are settled!

Re: Ask YC: What is the best area in SF Bay Area for startup hackers?

#10

Post by iamelgringo » Sat, Sep 06, 2008, 6:27 AM UTC

I host a Meetup called Hackers and Founders in Sunnyvale every month. It's been growing a lot though, so we might end up going to every other week. We have 30 people planning to attend on September 18th, and I'm holding off on allowing more RSVP's because the bar we have it at gets pretty crowded. If you wanted to crash the party around 7:30 or 8pm it would probably clear out by then. There is another one scheduled for October 1st.

It's a low key event which consists of having a burger and a beer with hackers and people interested in startups. Our Meetup page is here: http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/1737/

As far as where to go to meet Hackers.... In the Bay Area, just strike up a conversation with people. 1 out of 10 people living in the area are engineers. You're bound to meet someone.