71–80 of 147 posts
$65,000 in Vegas buys you the same quality of life as $100,000 in SF.
Given, the tech scene in LA isn't great but it's not that far from SF and there are definitely some hackers around UCLA and the Westside.
I love New Yorkers but New York City is a zoo. You're constantly fighting the crowds, the street noise, and there is an extremely high cost of living. Some people thrive in this environment. I however find that my blood pressure rises to unacceptable levels.
In Los Angeles I know plenty of people with a yard and driveway living in nice walkable neighborhoods near the beach or in and around hollywood paying less than $1500-$1700/month.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
With a quarter of the young population out of work, nevertheless the idea that it's "impossible to find talent" continues. It's like a new blacksmith coming into town and complaining that there aren't any trained blacksmiths for him to hire, while staring at 50 strong farmboys who are holding up "will work for food" signs. If only there was some way of teaching people new skills... but alas, no such thing exists.
If only there was some way of teaching people new skills It's the other way around. If those farmboys you postulate don't have the initiative and aptitude to take up hacking, they're unlikely to be a great addition to a software team. The last thing you need is someone passively waiting to be told what to do and taught how to do it. It would be great to be proven wrong about this, but I've seen lots of examples of it…
I moved to NYC and started job-hunting in early 2011. I didn't have a background in software development but I had programmed in VBA for 18 months (pricing insurance), used R for my statistics masters degree project and had been dabbling in Python for around 5 years (all self-taught).
Through direct applications, headhunters and networking at various meetup events I hunted for tech and tech/finance jobs for about eight months. While things would sometimes look promising, if usually came down to "we're really looking for someone with a bit more experience in X". I did manage to find some freelance work (for a Python/Django web startup) but they decided that rather than another backend programmer they needed someone who could do frontend development and system administration...
After leaving NYC my sister got a call, "is your brother still looking for a job in New York?", and I ended up back here working as an accountant. I didn't have any experience in accounting either (though I had taken some classes in the past) but my new boss was happy to bring me in on a three month contract and see how things worked out (I got a permanent offer after a month and a half).
My previous team was split between Mountain View and New York. We'd travel back and forth. Don't get me wrong: I love the Bay Area. The weather for one thing is simply heaven. We'd often get into debates about this. My argument is that it is cheaper to live in New York than the Bay Area. The main reason for this is that almost anywhere you live in the Bay Area you will have a car. Between car payment, insurance, gas…
You say it's cheaper, then use the example of a $2000 apartment which is an insane amount to pay for housing. Then you (correctly) note that the cheap places are actually really far (and annoying) commutes. BART stations are much cleaner than NYC subway stations, I find the trips much more pleasant. Your startup could also be in SF (not MV) saving you the commute, have you thought about that? Eating fast food Good, h…
For cultural comparisons here's what you get in Central London for similar prices. (No adjustments for cost of living.)
(http://www.findaproperty.com/to-rent/central-london/properti...)
I consistently meet people in their late 20's and early 30's who are serious players in a wide variety of business and artistic endeavors. I don't have to go more than one degree of separation to find someone at the top of any field. I know less entrepreneurs here than in SV, but the cross-pollination in NYC is a big deal.
My previous team was split between Mountain View and New York. We'd travel back and forth. Don't get me wrong: I love the Bay Area. The weather for one thing is simply heaven. We'd often get into debates about this. My argument is that it is cheaper to live in New York than the Bay Area. The main reason for this is that almost anywhere you live in the Bay Area you will have a car. Between car payment, insurance, gas…
You say it's cheaper, then use the example of a $2000 apartment which is an insane amount to pay for housing. Then you (correctly) note that the cheap places are actually really far (and annoying) commutes. BART stations are much cleaner than NYC subway stations, I find the trips much more pleasant. Your startup could also be in SF (not MV) saving you the commute, have you thought about that? Eating fast food Good, h…
Edit: Also, it should be noted that the dating scene in NYC is ridiculously nice for single men with good jobs.
My previous team was split between Mountain View and New York. We'd travel back and forth. Don't get me wrong: I love the Bay Area. The weather for one thing is simply heaven. We'd often get into debates about this. My argument is that it is cheaper to live in New York than the Bay Area. The main reason for this is that almost anywhere you live in the Bay Area you will have a car. Between car payment, insurance, gas…
My previous team was split between Mountain View and New York. We'd travel back and forth. Don't get me wrong: I love the Bay Area. The weather for one thing is simply heaven. We'd often get into debates about this. My argument is that it is cheaper to live in New York than the Bay Area. The main reason for this is that almost anywhere you live in the Bay Area you will have a car. Between car payment, insurance, gas…
You say it's cheaper, then use the example of a $2000 apartment which is an insane amount to pay for housing. Then you (correctly) note that the cheap places are actually really far (and annoying) commutes. BART stations are much cleaner than NYC subway stations, I find the trips much more pleasant. Your startup could also be in SF (not MV) saving you the commute, have you thought about that? Eating fast food Good, h…
However if you measure quality of life by the cleanliness of the subway or having to wait 15 minutes because you just missed the last F train or it annoys you that a lot of people commute during rush hour, then yeah, NYC probably isn't for you.
Your knock on consumption culture is overstated. I guess if you want to get a meal or have a drink in the same places that finance and law douches do, you are going to run into that, but that's your fault for not taking a look around and realizing there is so much more to be had in this city.
[edited: underestimated the commute time to SOHO]
My previous team was split between Mountain View and New York. We'd travel back and forth. Don't get me wrong: I love the Bay Area. The weather for one thing is simply heaven. We'd often get into debates about this. My argument is that it is cheaper to live in New York than the Bay Area. The main reason for this is that almost anywhere you live in the Bay Area you will have a car. Between car payment, insurance, gas…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You say it's cheaper, then use the example of a $2000 apartment which is an insane amount to pay for housing. Then you (correctly) note that the cheap places are actually really far (and annoying) commutes. BART stations are much cleaner than NYC subway stations, I find the trips much more pleasant. Your startup could also be in SF (not MV) saving you the commute, have you thought about that? Eating fast food Good, h…
> the example of a $2000 apartment which is an insane amount to pay for housing. For cultural comparisons here's what you get in Central London for similar prices. (No adjustments for cost of living.) ( http://www.findaproperty.com/to-rent/central-london/properti... )