Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities?

#61

Post by hitpointdrew » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 9:04 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #34

Not to gatekeep the word rural, but: Problem with some of these replies is they’re pointing out small cities, not rural areas. When I (and maybe OP) think “rural/pastoral” I am thinking villages with less than 500 people. A house on 2 or more acres where you can’t see your neighbor is considered a small property. That’s rural. Not Asheville or Fort Collins. Those are just small cities.

I hit on some of those where I live.

    2 or more acres: Yes
    can't see your neighbor: No
    Less than 500 people: No, just about double that at 1k

I consider where I live pretty rural. In my town there isn't a lot of "tech" people that I know of but 15 min away there is a small "city" with about 15k population that has an active co-working space that is all tech people (its like 20ish person group).

Even in the "city" that is 15 min away, there is never any real traffic, not like what you get in a major city. I never worry about hitting traffic, I can come and go to the co-working space at will without ever a thought of "I better leave before rush hour hits".

Re: Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities?

#62

Post by m82labs » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 9:04 PM UTC

The Raleigh NC area has quite a bit of tech, and if you stay about 20-25 minutes outside of downtown you can get that rural lifestyle while still being close to the city and tech companies. Specifically if you stay south of the city. I have 2 acres and regularly see cows across the field in my backyard but I also have a good selection of local tech conferences and reliable fiber internet.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities?

#63

Post by Kerrick » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 9:05 PM UTC

chaostheory wrote: post #25

Isn't this an oxymoron? i.e. the second enough techies converge in the same location is the same second it transforms from a rural community into a suburb

Absolutely not. You’ll find plenty of communities in rural areas: churches, American Legion, quilting groups, hunting buddies, continuing education classes at the county extension, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities?

#64

Post by tcoppi » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 9:09 PM UTC

m82labs wrote: post #62

The Raleigh NC area has quite a bit of tech, and if you stay about 20-25 minutes outside of downtown you can get that rural lifestyle while still being close to the city and tech companies. Specifically if you stay south of the city. I have 2 acres and regularly see cows across the field in my backyard but I also have a good selection of local tech conferences and reliable fiber internet.

Agree Raleigh and the general Triangle area is a good one. Maybe surprising for most here but Maryland and Virginia is like this as well. We're more expensive but you can get 1-3 acres within an hour commute of DC and/or Baltimore with a relatively robust tech scene, especially if you're willing to work for the government. Areas like Frederick, MD even have reasonable rail commutes into DC!

Re: Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities?

#65

Post by Kerrick » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 9:11 PM UTC

I’m working on founding a nonprofit with the explicit aim being to foster exactly that, with coworking spaces being the central hub to collect and train techies (and other remote workers).

Here’s an excerpt from a draft of our organizational plan:

> When Americans raised in a rural area want to enter knowledge work or start a business, they’re usually stuck with two options: do something local, which caps their earning potential, or move to an urban metropolitan area, which exacerbates the problem of rural brain drain. [REDACTED] fosters and accelerates a recent third option: work remotely or start an internet-based business, opening up the earning potential formerly only available to those who chose to move to the big city, while keeping the people rooted in (and thus their earnings circulating through the economies of) their rural home.

> While the first thought to unlock aforementioned internet-based earning potential for rural Americans might be universal broadband on the scale of the rural electrification of America in the mid 1900s, there are two specific advantages that focusing on coworking as a complimentary solution provides. First, coworking spaces can be built as a centralized service for all citizens of a county, like a university exchange or a courthouse, when broadband internet service is available in part of a rural county but not to most of the citizens at home. Second, coworking spaces continue to provide value and foster economic potential even once every rural home has broadband internet, as evidenced by their success and popularity in cities across the world.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities?

#66

Post by scandox » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 9:13 PM UTC

CalRobert wrote: post #56

Well, I moved to a village of about 250 people in rural Ireland, and I've met some other rural Irish tech workers online, but don't know of any concentrations of tech workers, we're all far apart. I do wonder if this will change over time as housing in cities gets less and less affordable. It's.... Fine. The locals are mostly bemused. I'd struggle to do it in rural US where the political divide is much wider. I'm onl…

How is the broadband? I'm in Dublin and often contemplate moving out but I run into connectivity issues in many of my favoured locations.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities?

#67

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 9:22 PM UTC

wildrhythms wrote: post #42

ryandrake wrote: post #34

Not to gatekeep the word rural, but: Problem with some of these replies is they’re pointing out small cities, not rural areas. When I (and maybe OP) think “rural/pastoral” I am thinking villages with less than 500 people. A house on 2 or more acres where you can’t see your neighbor is considered a small property. That’s rural. Not Asheville or Fort Collins. Those are just small cities.

Every time threads like this come up it humbles me to realize how many people have never actually seen, much less lived in, a rural setting. Yes this is gatekeeping, but it serves a purpose to set a realistic perspective. See below for folks who think 'rural' means a suburb of a major city.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities?

#68

Post by cdkmoose » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 9:23 PM UTC

A possible target would be paper mill towns or similar. They tend to be rural to be close to the wood supply, but having a staff of engineers means there is a chance for a tech component to the population. I grow up in a small town in Maine, 1500 people in 45 square miles. The next town over from the mill town. Our regional HS had a strong science/math component again connected to the engineering population I think. Interestingly, cable was so late in getting to my town that when it arrived it was cheaper to run fiber than copper, so my parent's have fiber to the house, excellent internet speeds. I have been able to work very functionally in my software engineering job from there.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities?

#69

Post by nextos » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 9:38 PM UTC

Joey21 wrote: post #11

Why not look to small towns around state universities? Also, in the USA, look for micropolitan towns. Places that aren't tiny, but aren't major metro areas along with those kinds of challenges. Smaller towns can be easier places to afford homes, shorter distances to truly rural places. The people can be - not always though - challenging. May be more conservative politically and culturally. May be resistant to progres…

Any examples of micropolitan towns?

Re: Ask HN: Are there any rural tech communities?

#70

Post by mgarfias » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 9:44 PM UTC

Yes, we are very different. I live just outside a small town (800people). We are definitely not a "tech" community, but we have a fiber network thats getting upgraded to 10Gbps sometime this summer.

I'm about 3mi outside of town on 5 acres of trees, and I care barely see my neighbor. Its pretty quiet except for the occasional truck driving up the hill. Oh, and the neighbors (or me) occasionally shooting at something.

I highly recommend it, if you can deal with the lack of people and the generally conservative lifestyles/beliefs. If you're a libertarian, just leave me alone, type, it works just fine.