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

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

#291

Post by tristor » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 1:48 PM UTC

TulliusCicero wrote: post #238

throwawayboise wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What we know from data is that people in rural areas tend to identify more as conservatives and vote for the more conservative party (in the US, the GOP). That's because there are very few viable candidates who run as Libertarians. GP is right about the sentiment, though.

I doubt it. "I just want the government to leave me alone" is a common sentiment across the American political spectrum, sure, but when you drill down to specific issues you suddenly find that people are actually okay with or supportive of the government doing all kinds of stuff. People don't always tell the truth. For an example on one issue I'm very familiar with: zoning. America tends to have hyper strict zoning,…

Zoning isn't a thing in rural areas... pretty much at all. You can effectively do whatever you want on your land as long as you're not breaking state or federal laws.

It's weird how you're getting upvoted so heavily for citysplaining rural areas to someone who grew up in one, on a farm. Your profile says you don't even live in the US, but you're originally from the Bay Area... maybe you should listen in this case rather than trying to tell people in a part of the country you've probably never even visited how living their life works.

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

#292

Post by stickfigure » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 2:05 PM UTC

AnishLaddha wrote: post #39

njoubert wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow! Which direction from SF??

probably north, marin county is beautiful.

Marin county is a poor choice if you want to build things. They are extremely uptight about permit enforcement. Sonoma is easier.

I'm in Solano, which is somewhat ok. We still sometimes struggle with the permit department. It would be even easier if we were about a mile north, in Yolo. But there isn't a huge inventory of properties for sale so you don't necessarily get to pick.

On the plus side, if you're trading in from a home in the inner bay area, everything will seem very cheap.

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

#293

Post by bombcar » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 2:25 PM UTC

TulliusCicero wrote: post #230

bombcar wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all the roads to get to your destination are paved, you ain’t rural heh. You’re just exurb.

The definitional game of Ruraler Than Thou is definitely an annoying one.

Waiting for some Aussie to come in and say “look, if you’re not so far out that the only way to get anywhere is by plane, you’re just larping.”

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

#294

Post by bombcar » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 2:26 PM UTC

TulliusCicero wrote: post #236

bombcar wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The argument is you can’t have cities without rural areas supplying what they need. To disprove that you need cities that are self-sufficient. Subsidies don’t matter in that question.

Uhh no, who was arguing that you can have cities without anyone in rural areas? This just looks like another ridiculous straw man.

> cities are an inevitable migration towards efficiency and that rural life is increasingly an unsustainable welfare state

Was what the whole thread started with.

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

#295

Post by sh_123 » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 2:34 PM UTC

brightball wrote: post #17

I don't know if it qualifies for your standard but Greenville, SC and its surrounding areas (Traveler's Rest, Simpsonville, Easley, Greer) have a blossoming tech community over the last 10 years. I'm one of the admins for our main tech Slack group and there's about 1,400 of us in there at last count. Beautiful downtown area around a waterfall, tons of biking, near mountains and 3 lakes. House prices are through the r…

After going fully remote my fiancée and I recently moved back. The changes in Greenville over the past several years are staggering. Tons of growth!

I’d like to get plugged back into the tech community here. Could I grab an invite to the slack group? hahn.shot.first@gmail.com

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

#296

Post by derstander » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 2:35 PM UTC

justin66 wrote: post #281

giantg2 wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Large volumes of food need to come from some rural area, but if left to its own devices, the market would never demand that so much of it come from the rural US, or that the rural US make so much from the crops it produces." Why not? The US exports a lot a food and consumes a lot of food (per capita). If we were to cease exports and even some domestic production, then prices will rise. The worldwide demand isn't goi…

> Why not? The US exports a lot a food and consumes a lot of food (per capita). If we were to cease exports and even some domestic production To clarify, removing tariffs and agricultural subsidies might not affect our overall agricultural output much (I wouldn't want to make a prediction on that) but it would lower the cost of goods which were previously subsidized with taxes or tariffs. > Not to mention if we becom…

> The number of powerful people (including people who would normally give lip service to free markets) who, when confronted by this consensus among economists, basically don't give a shit is... disheartening.

Domain experts reach consensus and their recommendations aren’t followed in a lot of disciplines. I agree in this case it makes economic sense to stop farm subsidies — which could result in lower domestic food production and greater imports from abroad. And when the world economy is humming along smoothly that’s great. But if there’s a hiccup in the world economy —- e.g., in the case of war in a place where it makes economic sense to grow a lot of wheat or a problem in the logistics network shuttling things from where they’re produced to where they’re consumed then it’s not as clear-cut.

My naive view of politics, when they’re running well, is to navigate conflicting priorities from groups, including domain experts, the populace, etc.

And I think the farm subsidies could be interpreted to involve national security concerns on top of then economic concerns. If a world war breaks out and we’re on the opposite side from places we normally source our food then they have leverage over us.

TL/DR I think there’s more at play than just the economic concern.

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

#297

Post by l8rpeace » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 3:34 PM UTC

Talk with my friends at Codefi in Called Girardeau, Missouri: https://www.codefiworks.com/

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

#298

Post by justin66 » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 3:51 PM UTC

derstander wrote: post #296

justin66 wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why not? The US exports a lot a food and consumes a lot of food (per capita). If we were to cease exports and even some domestic production To clarify, removing tariffs and agricultural subsidies might not affect our overall agricultural output much (I wouldn't want to make a prediction on that) but it would lower the cost of goods which were previously subsidized with taxes or tariffs. > Not to mention if we becom…

> The number of powerful people (including people who would normally give lip service to free markets) who, when confronted by this consensus among economists, basically don't give a shit is... disheartening. Domain experts reach consensus and their recommendations aren’t followed in a lot of disciplines. I agree in this case it makes economic sense to stop farm subsidies — which could result in lower domestic food p…

Regarding the security concerns, I assume the reduction in poverty overseas would have tremendous security benefits here. I also tend not to believe US agriculture would not simply reduce its output to dangerously low levels, but that’s harder to speculate about.

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

#299

Post by dogman144 » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 4:10 PM UTC

stickfigure wrote: post #271

dogman144 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an area I'm looking to move to, from Santa Rosa up to Ukiah but way east Bay looks interesting. What is the fire risk like? I'm comfortable with everything else via Starlink, remote job that'll stay remote, and similar.

> What is the fire risk like? The answer is complicated. My property has burned over twice since I've been here, and two years ago a few hundred of my neighbors lost homes in the LNU fire. However, I'll still say that for rural California, it's actually not bad. It's grasses and oaks here ("light flashy fuels") which burn with low intensity. If you prepare diligently, your home will most likely be fine. We don't get…

Great answer, thank you for following up. Makes sense about considering the fuels around you. I see cool places for sale in Sebastopol to Guerneville, but seems like fire traps potentially on those windy roads.

Starlink and a backup mofi sim router that is config'd a bit will suffice, I'm in a pretty rural spot but more mountain west. It's on the base tripod in my backyard (no roof mount) and works fine.

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

#300

Post by leetcrew » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 4:12 PM UTC

wwweston wrote: post #119

hunterb123 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just wanted to say your walls of text are very offensive, inaccurate, and read as someone who has never lived in a rural community.

Can you spend some time pointing out a few of the specific inaccuracies from your perspective?

I'm guessing the part about being unfriendly to non-white people is a big part of what's offensive. may or may not be true, but people tend to react poorly to sweeping negative judgments about the place where they live. on top of that, the analysis of how roads and water work is not quite right.

the overall point about the tax base death spiral is true though. it's really hard to wind down infrastructure that's been built out to support a certain population size. this happens in cities too, it's a major issue in baltimore, for example.