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Ask HN: Does it still matter to be in the Bay Area?

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Re: Ask HN: Does it still matter to be in the Bay Area?

#71

Post by igetspam »

jjav wrote: post #68
duped wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean the point was to be hyperbolic, but "concrete mcdonaldified" is just a notch below the SFBA. There's a kind of northern Californian exceptionalism that reeks of people who have never traveled to the other 49 states. Or even within California. I've lived in a number of different places in the country and the Bay Area is hands down the worst, and it always baffled me how many people that lived there thought it w…

> I'm sorry that most places you don't need to worry about stepping over needles and human excrement in the streets. SF isn't the Bay Area. Traditionally SF wasn't considered part of Silicon Valley at all (these days depends who you talk to and when and where they got immersed here). > I've lived in a number of different places in the country and the Bay Area is hands down the worst I somewhat don't actually like the…

I'm a Bay Area native. Grew up in San Jose and took my first paid tech job in 1999. I left CA after 30 years and with the exception of Tahoe and a few people, I can't find anything to miss.

Care to share what you consider "deal-breakers" because I've found parity for less money, pretty much everywhere I looked.

Re: Ask HN: Does it still matter to be in the Bay Area?

#72

Post by pc86 »

okdood64 wrote: post #48
pc86 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment reads as if the only tech jobs that exist are in the Bay Area which is obviously not the case. Most tech jobs in the US are somewhere else.

Most "prestigious" large tech companies, or exciting start-ups have their HQ in the area. That counts for something. You get your pick of the litter. And this comes from someone who is patently not a job hopper.

All the "prestigious" large tech companies will also have offices in half a dozen (or more) other US cities. And most of them still allow remote work especially for senior folks. The only benefit I see to being in the Bay Area is if you want your entire career to be Employee #1 of newly-VC-funded startups, not because of the VC funding necessarily but everyone who is trying to get that funding spends at least some time in SF.

Re: Ask HN: Does it still matter to be in the Bay Area?

#74

Post by ldayley »

duped wrote: post #53
mint2 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“ that dystopian hellhole where the only positive quality of life is the weather.” Eesh that’s laying in on thick. SF is clearly not your cup of tea but no need for this type of hyperbole. I happen to enjoy the Bay Area, and S.F. in particular. People have different things they are interested in. You wouldn’t want me to hyperbolically rant on about how many other areas of the country are concrete mcdonaldified wastel…

I mean the point was to be hyperbolic, but "concrete mcdonaldified" is just a notch below the SFBA. There's a kind of northern Californian exceptionalism that reeks of people who have never traveled to the other 49 states. Or even within California. I've lived in a number of different places in the country and the Bay Area is hands down the worst, and it always baffled me how many people that lived there thought it w…

While this also feels hyperbolic, I noticed this attitude while living in Northern California myself. But I saw that exceptionalism state-wide, and most especially with young people. The first time I saw a notable break from that attitude was during 2020 pandemic when moving to Austin, TX became de jour (even though many returned).

The irony that people would leave a large, wealthy state full of exceptionalist attitudes for a similarly large, wealthy, exceptionalist state was not lost on me!

But I maintain close personal and business ties to CA and my networks there and won’t live long term more than a days drive away. Maybe I’m part of the problem.

Re: Ask HN: Does it still matter to be in the Bay Area?

#75

Post by nojvek »

ljlolel wrote: post #33

Paul Graham’s advice: it still matters to be in Bay Area as a founder because you are the average of your 5 closest friends. And in Bay Area your 5 closest founder friends are much more likely to be successful (possibly very successful) and that happening much less in any other city.

Bay Area isn’t all that. Plenty of homeless and people barely getting by. Even founders working on the next jank app barely staying afloat of crazy rent.

Successful is a weird definition. Most people in Bay Area, like the rest of the world are in the cycle of making ends meet.

If you have great founder friends, great. But it’s not a given from the law of averages.

It is a disfunctional city, and continues to be successful despite being disfunctional.

Re: Ask HN: Does it still matter to be in the Bay Area?

#76

Post by alexecldn »

I move from London to the Bay Area 5 years ago, specially to get immersed in the “Silicon Valley” culture.

The differences seemed small initially, but they add up. I find people are bolder - less risk adverse. The energy is about 4x London, the scale 10x (the USA market is 10x more valuable vs the UK: 5x the population worth 2x the dollars). Genuine success is important, you cannot arse about pretending to work (like MANY Brits do).

It was a move to a much worse work-life balance for me.

The downsides are significant, lack of quality art and culture. You earn 2x or 3x but everything from cheese to housing is 2x to 3x more expensive. The Bay Area is geographically isolated, no more weekend tries to Paris or Berlin. You’ve got Hawaii and LA (a 8h drive to a city uglier, more polluted and dirty than Delhi). Skiing is Tahoe at $160/day, whereas London gives you access to dozen of much better resorts at a fraction of the price. Tahoe was especially disappointing.

I drove through SF last week and there was only one billboard that wasn’t about a GenAI company selling a CRM system.

Re: Ask HN: Does it still matter to be in the Bay Area?

#77

Post by _akhe »

willhslade wrote: post #52
okdood64 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because the ability to take risks is simply missing in the country. Never heard of this before, interesting! Can you direct me to some sources or YouTube video about this? I'd love to learn more.

Not OP but I'm a Canadian who follows the news so I'll pitch in. Canada is suffering a few things right now. Definitely a housing crisis, which seems to be everywhere in the Anglosphere but I'm pretty sure we have it the worst. Couple charts. Disposable income vs house costs, USA then Canada. https://www.reddit.com/r/canadahousing/s/SIRo14xudI Relatedly, debt to income ratios, Canada vs USA. https://ritholtz.com/2013…

There are probably more Canadians in San Francisco than Californians, it's basically a Canadian city now.

Re: Ask HN: Does it still matter to be in the Bay Area?

#78

Post by kika »

duped wrote: post #23
lolinder wrote: post #8

Possibly unpopular opinion: there was always plenty of room for individuals to have a fulfilling tech career outside of the Bay Area, and those opportunities have if anything grown in recent years. Bay Area folks always talk like all the opportunities are concentrated there but that's never really been true and will just be less and less true as VC money dries up. I'm sure some of it depends on what you're trying to…

Moving to the Bay Area was the best thing I've ever done for myself financially. The network of companies, developers, and investors/advisers (in good times) is unparalleled and enough to make you a career if you can hack it, and give you the exposure to people to mentor you and teach you how to hack it. Moving away from the Bay Area was the second best thing I've ever done for myself financially, because once you ha…

came here to write exactly this :-) The best decision in my life was moving to Bay Area in 2010. The second best decision was to move out in 2022.

Re: Ask HN: Does it still matter to be in the Bay Area?

#79

Post by bevekspldnw »

jjav wrote: post #70
bevekspldnw wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, Pittsburgh PA checks all those boxes with a fraction of cost of living and crime. Also, way way way more artists - because they can afford to live there. The art scene in the bay is actually really bad.

> Pittsburgh The weather though.. I like Pittsburgh (CMU alumni here), but only a few weeks a year.

100% agree, just saying there’s more art and other amenities than people realize. Also, one of the genuinely friendliest places I’ve ever lived.

The weather is bad enough that I consider it basically uninhabitable if you have seasonal depression. South Bay is a cultural wasteland but god damn the weather is 10/10.

The biggest drawback beyond the weather is the coke/steel plants regularly put shit in the air far in excess of EPA guidelines and the water supply is about two steps above Flint in quality.

Overall, PGH is amazing if you can live with the climate - but if you can’t, you can’t.

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