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What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

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Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#91

Post by jasonshen »

driverdan wrote: post #83

I considered moving to SF but chose Austin instead. I refuse to live in a state with such a dysfunctional government and ridiculously high taxes. Some of the same reasons I left NY. You can do tech anywhere. You do not need to live in the bay area. If you really like the city pick a place (like Austin) with inexpensive direct flights and go a few times a month. You'll still save money.

You CAN do tech anywhere, just as you CAN be a banker outside of NYC or an actor outside of LA. Doesn't mean it's the most efficient or effective way.

I have lots of respect for people who choose to live in other parts of the world but to suggest that there's not much difference between living in SF or Austin for someone interested in starting or working for a successful technology firm is inaccurate.

I don't count freelance development as "doing tech" as it's equivalent to being a "day-trader" vs banker or "youtube star" vs actor.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#92

Post by amosson »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #75
amosson wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much has been written about the dysfunction of California's government. I would summarize it as we have a direct participation system, in the form of propositions, that has limited what the government can do. Specifically, the voters have limited the amount of property taxes that can be raised, required a super majority of the legislature to raise any other taxes, and then gone ahead and proscribed what the legislatu…

Oregon has done exactly the same thing, though, and it hasn't caused the same problems. We have a balanced budget requirement, an annual cap on property tax increases, a requirement that the legislature can't pass taxes itself but has to put them as ballot measures, and a requirement that no new tax can pass at a special election (non-May non-November) without a 50% turnout (in response to too many ballot-stuffing sp…

I can't speak to Oregon, but in California the voters also specify the things the government has to spend on. We have legislature must spend on. For instance we require that some 60% of the budget go to education. The legislature only have control over something like 20%. Additionally, while this is probably only a small problem now, we will have pension / retiree health care issues.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#93

Post by jgmmo »

rootedbox wrote: post #82

Wonders how anyone can live without being in the tech industry... then chooses not to buy local.. You are making things a lot harder on the families of SF that have been here for a long time by not shopping local.. please think of that next time you order on amazon from your soma office.

Buy local is the biggest crock (with one exception: if you honestly and truly believe the food is better quality). It causes a net loss for society. Consumers can't purchase as many goods, and the goods being purchased are not being produced as efficiently as the 'non-locals' version. Which means your groceries cost more every week then they would have otherwise. http://mises.org/daily/5283/The-BuyLocal-Canard

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#95

Post by majormajor »

smhinsey wrote: post #71
petercooper wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LA has some of the worst road surfaces I've seen anywhere , even on the freeways. On the flip side, though, I suspect the US has more than 5x the roads despite only having 5x our population.

It's also a really big deal when you shut down a freeway, even if it is for maintenance that'll improve it. Not many cities make national news with road closures like LA has done with the 405. The cost of this maintenance goes way beyond time & materials.

I love how much denser the suburban parts of LA are compared to other places (though I do wish it had more of a super-dense urban core), but it does take a toll infrastructure-wise. LA has a pretty extensive network of freeways, and they're still all packed. It's crazy. And impressive, in a way (I have a love-hate relationship with the 405 in particular).

On the other hand, the city I'm from originally is finally getting to widening one of the core freeways in an area that's seen a ton of growth over the past twenty years, and it sounds like just as much a pain for the people living there as the 405 construction has been in LA. There's just a far lower total of affected people since the city is so much less populated. :)

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#96

Post by drallison »

Not mentioned is one of the great San Francisco treats: THE EXPLORATORIUM. http://www.exploratorium.edu. The Exploratorium is moving in April from the old facility near the Palace of Fine Arts to a more central location on the waterfront. While it's a great place for family and kids, it's also a great place for the rest of us. And, in the new location there will be more events like the popular date night "after dark" gatherings. And if you've got spare cash, donations are always welcome.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#98

Post by sakopov »

In my opinion the high cost of living kills everything else on that list. I'd much rather have a comfortable living, travel the world and be optimistic that i will have no problems buying a nice house for me and my spouse/family if i need to/should i want to. I don't really see this possible based on what i hear from a couple of friends living and working there. Both consumed by their tech jobs, some cool things to do every once in a while when they're not slaving away for a startup. I guess people have different priorities. All this stuff is great until you're in mid 50s and you realize your less-than-comfortable living is leaving you with a less-than-comfortable retirement.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#99

Post by jacoblyles »

philwelch wrote: post #55
JoshTriplett wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Oregon we have less than half the taxes of California, and yet we have well-maintained roads (to the point of joking that the state flower is a traffic cone), and well-maintained everything else. And the state doesn't gripe about not having enough money nearly as often (and when they do it doesn't make the national news). The state even (by law) gives back any excess tax revenue they collect each year, though…

Californians pay more in federal taxes than the state receives in federal spending. This is also true of Oregon, but in California it's true to a much higher degree. So the state is essentially subsidizing the rest of the country and doesn't have enough left over for itself.

That sounds like the results of progressive taxation and federal welfare. California income is higher than the national average. Mississippi's is lower. So some federal tax dollars from California end up in Mississippi's medicaid fund.

But you can't blame all of California's suck on that. It is not exactly a low-tax state!

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#100

Post by lflux »

hudibras wrote: post #24

Meanwhile, NFL Sundays will never be the same as 10am kickoffs is something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to. Born and raised in Seattle. Some of my fondest memories growing up were rolling out of bed at 9:45 and sitting down to watch some football in my underwear with a bowl of cereal in my lap. (In college, sweatpants replaced underwear and screwdrivers replaced the cereal.) Now I live in D.C. and it's weird tha…

Try being a (American) football fan in Europe. Some games start at 2am, watching the Super Bowl usually involves me taking the next day off work as the game usually ends around 4am.
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