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The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

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Re: The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

#41

Post by EB66 »

coenhyde wrote: post #22
tjr225 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

What a terrible take. You're the kind of NIMBY who creates the problems then blames them on new residents. How about you listen to their problems and solve some of them instead of blaming them for problems they did not create.

The problem in Seattle is that it's been flooded by highly paid tech workers. Our population has exploded in the past decade (over 21% increase). The city council has pushed through tons of rezoning and construction has been faster here than elsewhere in the country but it can't keep up with demand.

So, it may not be polite to point it out, but it's not inaccurate to say that the problem is in fact people like the OP.

Re: The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

#42

Post by Frost1x »

usrn wrote: post #32
angarg12 wrote: post #4

This year we finally moved to the US after 2 years of Covid-induced delays. We moved to Seattle because it's where my team is based. I'm far from impressed. The housing market is so inaccessible that we had to rent a house about 1 hour commute from the office. I have hardly visited the offices a handful of times since we moved, and every time there is maybe 1 or 2 people there. Also this spring seems to be one of the…

God only knows why we still have net immigration. I guess despite the way minorities and lower classes are "oppressed" we're still better than everywhere else somehow?

I'd say that and and the global propoganda machine is strong. There's many from outside the country who have a picture of what it's like to live here that doesn't align with reality. I think much of it is due to entertainment: movies, TV shows, etc. that give this false impression that everything is rosey all the time.

The lower classes are abused here as well and classes do exist but it's probably better being poor in the US than being poor in most parts of the world. If nothing else you have access to emergency rooms and food, although you may not have real housing.

Re: The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

#43

Post by Swizec »

usrn wrote: post #32
angarg12 wrote: post #4

This year we finally moved to the US after 2 years of Covid-induced delays. We moved to Seattle because it's where my team is based. I'm far from impressed. The housing market is so inaccessible that we had to rent a house about 1 hour commute from the office. I have hardly visited the offices a handful of times since we moved, and every time there is maybe 1 or 2 people there. Also this spring seems to be one of the…

God only knows why we still have net immigration. I guess despite the way minorities and lower classes are "oppressed" we're still better than everywhere else somehow?

As an immigrant I often wonder if America’s economy works so well in spite of or because of its policies.

But one thing is clear: Last year I saved more money than I made in my last year in Europe. And that’s while paying rent in downtown SF

To give a more surprising comparison - my country’s entire GDP fits into Apple's quarterly profits. The pie is large here.

Re: The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

#44

Post by juve1996 »

wing-_-nuts wrote: post #37
shmatt wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ATL averages about 33% more rain than Seattle Honestly unless OP goes to California, where the housing situation is much worse, or middle of nowhere like Nevada, they're going to be much wetter (albeit in the Summer and not Winter/Spring) in most of the south

More rain yes, but that rain comes down in heavy storms instead of miserable perma-drizzle and mist. This means even days with a forecast for rain will often be sunny until the front rolls through.

Sunny and oppressively humid and hot.

Re: The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

#45

Post by ecshafer »

kryptozinc wrote: post #27
ecshafer wrote: post #17

The top 10 metro areas list is interesting. Philadelphia, San Antonio, Houston, San Diego and Phoenix not on there despite all 5 being in the top 10 MSA and city population, while DC, Portland, Seattle, Atlanta, Boston are on there. I am also shocked that Portland is growing. I went to Portland this year recently, it is the worst city in the country I have been to. 90% of downtown is boarded up, city is deserted, mas…

> 90% of downtown is boarded up, city is deserted, massive homelessness crisis. Patently untrue. Portland is booming.

I went to a half dozen neighborhoods over a week. Even post covid, comparing it to Chicago, Philly, NYC, DC (all places I have also been to in the last 6 months) it felt like an absolute ghost town. Almost no people are walking around, even in the "hip" areas. If it weren't for the cars, it would have felt downright post-apocalyptic.

Re: The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

#46

Post by rednerrus »

kryptozinc wrote: post #27
ecshafer wrote: post #17

The top 10 metro areas list is interesting. Philadelphia, San Antonio, Houston, San Diego and Phoenix not on there despite all 5 being in the top 10 MSA and city population, while DC, Portland, Seattle, Atlanta, Boston are on there. I am also shocked that Portland is growing. I went to Portland this year recently, it is the worst city in the country I have been to. 90% of downtown is boarded up, city is deserted, mas…

> 90% of downtown is boarded up, city is deserted, massive homelessness crisis. Patently untrue. Portland is booming.

It's not as nice as it was in 2019...

Re: The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

#47

Post by zucked »

angarg12 wrote: post #4

This year we finally moved to the US after 2 years of Covid-induced delays. We moved to Seattle because it's where my team is based. I'm far from impressed. The housing market is so inaccessible that we had to rent a house about 1 hour commute from the office. I have hardly visited the offices a handful of times since we moved, and every time there is maybe 1 or 2 people there. Also this spring seems to be one of the…

Yes, the housing is, by-and-large, a lot cheaper, but the cities are not super walkable (if that's important to you) and the weather is often the opposite of cold and wet - it's hot and muggy. I don't do well with humidity, so a huge swath of the US is out for me.

Plugging this tool again because it ate up an hour of my day last time it was posted: https://www.movemap.io/explore/us

Re: The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

#48

Post by tren-hard »

This is great news. I love that tech jobs and workers are spreading out.

Some concentration is good but it’s way over saturated. That said real estate is still bonkers in Seattle (and everywhere really) so even with a huge out flow it isn’t even making a dent in affordability.

Re: The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

#49

Post by dragonwriter »

shmatt wrote: post #33
themanmaran wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The southern states are pretty great. ATL (hometown) is getting more expensive but has a pretty decent tech scene. Also the best airport in the US (direct flights everywhere). I've also been interested in North Carolina for a little while. Much more affordable (compared to PNW), and has some really nice areas (Asheville, Raleigh/Durham). But transportation is a bit more limited.

ATL averages about 33% more rain than Seattle Honestly unless OP goes to California, where the housing situation is much worse, or middle of nowhere like Nevada, they're going to be much wetter (albeit in the Summer and not Winter/Spring) in most of the south

> Honestly unless OP goes to California, where the housing situation is much worse, or middle of nowhere like Nevada, they're going to be much wetter

A lot of the drier parts of California, if you aren't tied to the LA Basin because you need local work, don't have as much of a housing problem, though. (That's also true of a lot of the wetter parts that you might chose to live in, if you aren't dependent on local work, too., though the wetter places that's true of often aren't the best places for the affordable, reliable high-speed internet you want for remote work.)

If you’ve got a Seattle tech salary, and want a dry location, you can find plenty of places in California where you can live like a king. Though I suspect you could as well or better, in that regard just by moving to Eastern Washington instead of Seattle.

US States are often neither climatically nor economically homogenous.

Re: The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving

#50

Post by JumpCrisscross »

ecshafer wrote: post #17

The top 10 metro areas list is interesting. Philadelphia, San Antonio, Houston, San Diego and Phoenix not on there despite all 5 being in the top 10 MSA and city population, while DC, Portland, Seattle, Atlanta, Boston are on there. I am also shocked that Portland is growing. I went to Portland this year recently, it is the worst city in the country I have been to. 90% of downtown is boarded up, city is deserted, mas…

> I went to Portland this year recently, it is the worst city in the country I have been to. 90% of downtown is boarded up, city is deserted, massive homelessness crisis.

I had the opposite response, but I guess I've been in San Francisco. All the locals were scared of downtown. Yes, it was boarded up. But it was safe. One homeless guy was being talked to by a cop because he was yelling. (They were all sitting cross legged on a corner. Super non-confrontational.) They left and then he left (not yelling). I don't think you could get a San Francisco cop's attention if a homeless person were flinging things at you.

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