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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

#391

Post by pnathan »

Roybatty wrote: post #363
enraged_camel wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: do you actually know what fascist means? If so, do you not understand that it is vastly different than "leftist" or "socialist"?

Yeah, I know that leftist groupthink doesn't comprehend that fascism is a leftist political ideology. Hint, you know what NAZI means?

More or less, fascism is the supremacy of the nation/state & creation of a civil religion around it. It merges the idea of the nation, the government, and links proper behavior to operating accord with the principles set forth by the leaders. At least that's what I got out of Mussolini's writings on the matter.

It's the people in service of the State, as opposed as the State being the People(communism).

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

#392

Post by eli_gottlieb »

juan_juarez wrote: post #188
run4yourlives wrote: post #72

This seems more of a "West Coast vs. East Coast" article than it is a "San Fran" article. For the most part, the author is highlighting the differences that anybody living on the East Coast will experience in moving to one of the western coastal cities, save perhaps LA, which as everyone already knows is its own little planet. Most of these "hints" hold true for San Diego, San Fran, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. T…

Came in to say that much of it's true about Portland. The weather's better. Rent and the cost of living is cheaper, but finding a place close-in to downtown is still highly competitive (ie - you have to be ready to put down a deposit as soon as you find a place you like; there is no real opportunity to look at other places and come back). PBR is losing some of its cachet - you just as often see Hamm's or Old German a…

(ie - you have to be ready to put down a deposit as soon as you find a place you like; there is no real opportunity to look at other places and come back).

You mean that's not normal?

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

#393

Post by ghc »

mtalantikite wrote: post #252
muzzamike wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it interesting that Boston often gets the rub of being a "small city". It certainly is when compared to New York or LA, but when looking at the metro area it's on par with San Francisco: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistica... Not that there's anything wrong with being a small city!

I think it's because most people don't really consider the metropolitan area to have anything to do with the city itself. For New York, parts of Jersey and Connecticut count as the metropolitan area, but you'd never say New York and mean New Haven. With that in mind, Boston is 600k or so people, which is tiny in city terms.

That has nothing to do with the actual size of Boston. That's a political artifact more than anything else, as neighborhoods around Boston didn't want to get annexed around the turn of the century. Boston's continuous urban population, which includes Cambridge, Brookline, etc. is over 4 million.

Having lived in Atlanta, Boston is a much bigger city despite Atlanta having a population of 4 million within it's proper city limits. That's why you never use city population over metro area or continuous urban population statistics to determine actual city size.

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

#395

Post by kafkaesque »

juan_juarez wrote: post #190
bluekite2000 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same goes w/ NYC. I have been here for a while now and have met so many young girls following Sex in the City dream, which invariably turned out badly.

Many people fail to realize that show was not intended to be educational.

Should we redirect them to Girls?

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

#396

Post by eli_gottlieb »

jacoblyles wrote: post #103
gambiting wrote: post #97

Oh US and your complaining about taxes. "You leave with ONLY 65% of your income after paying taxes". In Denmark you pay 60% in taxes, so you leave with 40% of your income in your pocket. And petrol is now more than $10/US gallon.

How healthy is the angel funding scene in Denmark? The western European model seems great if you want a life safely doing what has always been done.

The western European model seems great if you want a life safely doing what has always been done.

And the American model seems great if you're part of the small percentage who are not merely differently but excellently different. Further problem: if everyone's special, no-one is.

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

#397

Post by noname123 »

Wilduck wrote: post #375
svachalek wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the classic planning advice is based on about a century of economic history, most of that time period having little resemblance to today and things are only getting weirder, faster. Inflation is increasing (and increasingly under-reported), investment returns just--to put it bluntly--suck, social safety nets are falling apart, and we're expected to work for much longer in a world where age and experience don't…

> Inflation is increasing (and increasingly under-reported), investment returns just--to put it bluntly--suck. This is nearly a self contradictory statement. That is, if inflation were getting out of control, we would see high interest rates accompanying that change. I'm not saying your advice it bad (savings are a good idea), although maybe a little extreme sounding (too much doomsday feel for my taste). I do, howev…

The issue is USD is losing its status as the reserve currency and declining exchange rate with BRIC countries are making consumer goods more expensive. Chinese RMB used to be 8:1 in the late 90's, now it's 6:1 and declining.

Also due to several rounds of quantitative easing, the Fed injected a lot of money into the money supply. However, banks are not lending as much money to stimulate the economy which doesn't trickle down to ordinary folks; part of the reason being big banks such as BoA and Citi needed to bolster their capital reserve against their illiquid toxic assets from the real estate speculation bubble. As a result, QE1/2/3 caused real inflation to money supply while the stock market and personal savings account returns have remained anemic.

I remember I was excited when I got a six-figure job, then I realized that 80K in 1998 amounted to 110K in 2011 and realized that inflation was real.

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

#398

Post by bherms »

__--__ wrote: post #276
bherms wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate that everyone calls the weather here amazing. Being cold all but maybe 30-40 days a year is not incredible weather, especially factoring in fog.

Go spend a winter in NY and then complain about the SF weather.

I have spent a winter in NY. And about 24 of them in Indiana. The thing with those places is that I expect it to be frigid in the winter. San Francisco is always lauded for it's "amazing" weather, which to most people -- especially tourists who generally come with nothing but shorts + tshirts and end up buying hundreds of dollars of giants/niners/i <3 sf gear to stay warm -- is in the 70-80 range. Even when it is "nice" and in that sweet spot, it's only from about 11am-3pm and then it gets cold and/or foggy and/or crazy windy (depending which parts of the city you're in, of course).

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

#399

Post by caniszczyk »

pk2200 wrote: post #313
w1ntermute wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are the women really more attractive in Austin? One of the things mentioned in the article is that in SF, people are in shape. How are things in Austin?

I've lived for several years in Silicon Valley and Austin, and would have to agree that Austin has more attractive young women. The University of Texas probably has a lot do with it. It also helps that that Austin has 10-11 months of warm weather (January is our winter), so you're seeing more skin here, to put it bluntly. :) And yes, Austinites are healthy and in shape. Take any survey like this with a grain of salt,…

Austin has more in shape and attractive people by FAR. I moved to SF a couple years ago and moved back... SF was like clowntown when it came to fitness... Austin is orders of magnitude better when it comes to the fitness scene.

I mean shit, I'm running a 5km this Sunday in a gorilla suit... http://austingorillarun.com/

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

#400

Post by caniszczyk »

aliston wrote: post #160
jasonshen wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 f…

^This. I've lived in both SF and Austin. Austin is a bad ass city. In terms of quality of life, as a young and single male, it is a complete and total no brainer that Austin is better than SF. Better nightlife, more attractive women, cheaper cost of living, less bums, more sunlight, better weather (if you prefer hot to cold), better urban/outdoor balance... BUT, in terms of the startup scene, SF is in another league.…

Totally agree man on everything you said.

But please stop the influx of Californians to Austin... I don't want them to ruin Austin the same way SF and LA are ruined...

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