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The Valley Is Fucked

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Re: The Valley Is Fucked

#21

Post by maaku »

dredmorbius wrote: post #11
maaku wrote: post #3

This will sound patronizing if you've actually lived here but... you do know that San Francisco is not "the valley", right? The "valley" is Santa Clara Valley , which is a full 45 miles away and a very diverse set of neighborhoods. "There are no slums. There are no marginal areas." I've lived in "the valley" my whole damn life. My family has ties going back to the gold rush days. I have no idea where it is that you l…

"The Valley" is more a metaphor than a specific geographic location. Yes, its origins and core are in Santa Clara County, but there's been a significant shift toward the urban mecca of San Francisco, and by broader definitions it can be said to stretch as much as 100 miles (O'Reilly & Associate's Sebastapol headquarters have been included in the term, though that's a bit of a stretch). As for slums and marginal areas…

To some people perhaps. But there is and always has been a clear distinction between "the valley" and "the city" - we still talk about city startups vs valley startups - which is why this rant struck me as a little odd.

Regarding affordable living, I think you'd be suprised what you can find. In just about every county there are affordable housing developments and less affluent areas. Those people taking your fast-food order for minimum wage and cleaning your house have to live somewhere.

Of course even entry level jobs in tech preclude you from the government assistance many poor people here rely on. But "I make too much money for affordable housing" is bit different thing to say than "SF has no place for you to fall ... There are no slums. There are no marginal areas."

Re: The Valley Is Fucked

#22

Post by vertr07 »

>If you don't know Git, you don't know shit

>If you have a Tumblr site you haven't updated in six months and you call yourself a programmer, you're an embarrassment to the language you claim to know.

>You know who gets acqui-hired? White guys. The occasional cute blonde.

This is written by someone who thinks git is the end all be all tech skill to learn. This is person is not a dev, but is telling devs what they should be doing. Not only that, but this is another example of the tech elite 'shitting' all over the homeless, and she's exhibiting racism and sexism in this article. Pass on this ugly post...

Re: The Valley Is Fucked

#23

Post by 10098 »

It kinda made sense to me up until

"If you don't know Git, you don't know shit. If you have a Tumblr site you haven't updated in six months and you call yourself a programmer, you're an embarrassment to the language you claim to know."

Like, really, is a tumblog now the way a programmer's skill is evaluated? Git? No one cares if you know git, it's not a core competency unless your job somehow directly involves maintaining an SCM system. Are we from the same planet even?!

I kind of agree with the rest though. I had to visit SF a couple of times and really really didn't like it. Don't understand people who choose to live there, I'd rather put up with the rain and the grey of Seattle.

Re: The Valley Is Fucked

#24

Post by mempko »

zw123456 wrote: post #14

Homelessness, mentally ill, chronically unemployed, etc. these are serious issues that are obviously not unique to "the valley" or SF or any number of other places that border on affluent areas. I think the gist of the rant is that there is a lot of wealth in "the valley" but for some reason it does not "trickle down" to those with problems. Unfortunately, this is an issue that is much harder to solve than writing th…

Get rid of money. And if you can't do that. Tax, tax, tax the rich

Re: The Valley Is Fucked

#26

Post by woah »

This reads like the ramblings of someone who enjoys living in a country where you get whipped for spitting out some gum.

EDIT: And what does this line mean "...using Git to keep your work cryptographically secure..."?

Weird.

Re: The Valley Is Fucked

#27

Post by fideloper »

dasmithii wrote: post #2

This is really interesting, especially from my perspective. I'm a senior in High School, planning on traveling after graduation. These tech hubs are clear attractions to young technologists, but posts like this cause me to reconsider. Now, not knowing much about The Valley's history (other than the obvious), I'm wondering if these problems you speak of were caused by an influx of techies who feel entitled in the area…

The young may be more easily cajoled into working long hours and on a dream of becoming rich or well-respected.

While hard work is a great way to learn, "getting used" is a hard lesson to learn. So, as a "youth", be wary.

There's more out there than VC funded startups. Much more.

Re: The Valley Is Fucked

#28

Post by paulhodge »

Morgawr wrote: post #7
rfnslyr wrote: post #5

To other HNers. I'm looking to move to a different country for good. I'm thinking Germany. It's beautiful. Music, art, amazing women, startups, history, Europe. Where should I go? I have all the money in the world and I'm looking to settle elsewhere besides North America. Suggestions? OP: I like the way you rant.

As an European I can't say how well it compares to the US but The Netherlands (Amsterdam in particular) are an amazing place to move to. I've left Italy a few months ago and moved to Amsterdam (studying and working), it's an amazing place, a massive change of settings for me. There are lots of startups, companies and opportunities for tech-minded people. Obviously, I repeat, my comparison is with Italy which, to be h…

Along those lines, check out this link: http://appsterdam.rs . I've heard Mike Lee give a pitch on why geeks should move to Amsterdam, and it sounded pretty awesome.

Re: The Valley Is Fucked

#29

Post by TempleOSV2 »

C:\TAD\Text\PARADISE.TXT

And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth Throughout the fluid mass; but downward purged The black tartareous cold infernal dregs, Adverse to life: then founded, then conglobed Like things to like; the rest to several place Disparted, and between spun out the air; And Earth self-balanced on her center hung. Let there be light, said God; and forthwith Light Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure, Sprung from the deep; and from her native east To journey through the aery gloom began, Spher

Re: The Valley Is Fucked

#30

Post by ghc »

> If you don't know Git, you don't know shit. If you have a Tumblr site you haven't updated in six months and you call yourself a programmer, you're an embarrassment to the language you claim to know.

That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this writer. It doesn't seem hard to imagine that if you're a hacker wannabe who thinks things like having a tumblr are important to selling your skillset, or doesn't realize that outside trendy startups in the valley git is still far from universal, you're gonna have a bad time in the valley. And I say that as someone who hates the valley and couldn't be happier that I chose Boston instead.

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