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Leaving Google

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Re: Leaving Google

#221

Post by webwright »

benched wrote: post #123
haberman wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Vancouver is a real city. That's not very nice. > Seattle is provincial, passive-aggressive, unfriendly to outsiders, and segregated. A hick town with skyscrapers as I've often called it. Sorry you didn't enjoy it here. Every city has its ups and downs, but a lot of people (myself included) love it. It's beautiful, we are surrounded by nature, we have the best summers of anywhere I've ever been, I find the people f…

I note that the parent is mainly talking about the people, and you're mainly talking about other things, except to admit that the people are 'a bit' (I would say profoundly ) passive. Believe me, I love the scenery and the sushi too, but goddamn this place lonely.

In 7 years in Seattle, I've amassed a mess of friends and playmates. If you are lonely, expand your social horizons, initiate (lunches, coffees, games, dinners, whatever), rinse, repeat. I'm not excessively charming, so that's about the only thing I can attribute my not-remotely-loneliness to... I just worked at not being lonely.

Given how itinerant Seattle's population is, it seems strange to think that the people here are massively different in behavior cities of similar size.

Re: Leaving Google

#222

Post by mark_l_watson »

varelse wrote: post #24
tvon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> famous enough to merit an article about his departure but not famous enough for Google to give an inch to retain him I do not work at Google, but I suspect there is a bit more involved in these decisions.

I have friends at Google at remote offices who are experiencing increasing pressure to move to Silicon Valley (which the cost of living rules out) as they consolidate distributed teams. Add in Google's disdain for telecommuting that I experienced myself during my stint there and their rope cutting here does not surprise me. Sure, Google's culture favors the young. But their futurist agenda is being driven by Ray Kurz…

I experienced the same disdain for telecommuting there. I accepted a contracting job on a specific pilot project, always hoping to eventually being able to work perhaps 1/2 time from my home in Arizona. That didn't work out and I left. Anyway, I very much appreciated the experience but I didn't want to live long term in Silicon Valley.

Re: Leaving Google

#223

Post by mathattack »

mathattack wrote: post #202
jpollock wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, here's some off the top of my head. 1) Everyone calls me "Sir", but they don't use that term with others. 2) I have a jacket that sets off store alarms. I never get questioned, but others do. 3) I've seen apartment staff be rude to other residents (and prospective residents), but they're all smiles and sunshine when I walk in. 4) My wife was talking about how she wasn't able to work because of her visa. The oth…

Is this more so than anywhere else in the US?

I've lived in many places in the US and abroad, and found San Francisco to be on the more tolerant side overall. No place location or people is immune, but they're doing fairly well.

Re: Leaving Google

#224

Post by jarek »

amaks wrote: post #27
haberman wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a little sad he didn't say anything about Seattle, only a couple hours from Vancouver and with sizable and thriving Google offices. It is also has "greens and greys and unfussily variegated people" -- clearly it's not Canada, but in general it would be a much less drastic transition!

Besides, Seattle weather and landscape are a lot like Vancouver (and lot less expensive).

With Seattle vs Vancouver, you get what you pay for.

Re: Leaving Google

#225

Post by jarek »

cgh wrote: post #37
kohanz wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, Vancouver housing is incredibly overpriced. Perhaps more-so than the Bay Area because wages have kept up even less (supposedly due to Vancouver's desirability as a destination). That doesn't mean there aren't good, well-paying jobs there, but on average, wages in Vancouver are much lower than, say Toronto. As for the racism aspect, I think the choice of word is a bit hyperbolic. That being said, as a Canadian wh…

Greater Vancouver is at least as racially segmented as SF, perhaps more so. The major difference is the ethnic enclaves here aren't poor so it's not as disturbing. For example, Richmond is the largest Chinese city in the world outside of China. It's a relatively affluent place. As far as housing goes, Vancouver's is among the most unaffordable in the world, along with the likes of Hong Kong (as measured by price to r…

> Maybe Bray isn't up on the latest from Vancouver or something.

He bought in >15 years ago so he's not too concerned about real estate purchase prices. (Plus those "80% of income" metrics are not very useful anyway, certainly not for comparing moving from city to city while keeping the same job - doubly so if you've bought in when prices were a third of what they're now.)

Re: Leaving Google

#226

Post by benched »

webwright wrote: post #221
benched wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I note that the parent is mainly talking about the people, and you're mainly talking about other things, except to admit that the people are 'a bit' (I would say profoundly ) passive. Believe me, I love the scenery and the sushi too, but goddamn this place lonely.

In 7 years in Seattle, I've amassed a mess of friends and playmates. If you are lonely, expand your social horizons, initiate (lunches, coffees, games, dinners, whatever), rinse, repeat. I'm not excessively charming, so that's about the only thing I can attribute my not-remotely-loneliness to... I just worked at not being lonely. Given how itinerant Seattle's population is, it seems strange to think that the people h…

I must suck at socializing a lot worse than I thought I did.

Re: Leaving Google

#227

Post by webwright »

benched wrote: post #226
webwright wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 7 years in Seattle, I've amassed a mess of friends and playmates. If you are lonely, expand your social horizons, initiate (lunches, coffees, games, dinners, whatever), rinse, repeat. I'm not excessively charming, so that's about the only thing I can attribute my not-remotely-loneliness to... I just worked at not being lonely. Given how itinerant Seattle's population is, it seems strange to think that the people h…

I must suck at socializing a lot worse than I thought I did.

It's a skill, so you might suck. But it's possible you're just not doing the work. Be the guy who calls, hosts dinners, etc. If you DO suck, this will help with that too. :-)

Re: Leaving Google

#228

Post by ChuckFrank »

tomkin wrote: post #117
ChuckFrank wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whereas Vancouver is not? Vancouver is the most congested, racists, incestuous and overpriced market in Canada. Toronto might be more congested in parts, but it's much less racist and incestuous, and perhaps equally overpriced. Halifax might be more incestuous. Calgary might be more racists. Montreal might be more elitists, but he didn't mention that. Whereas, in defense of San Francisco, San Francisco has Oakland. I…

Downvoted for your blanket statements about an entire populace. Calgary might be more racist? Based on? Most major Canadian cities are close to the US border, for three very important reasons: geography, temperature & economy. Geography: because a good part of the country is covered in Canadian Shield, making it very expensive to excavate land. Temperature: because the nicest temperatures are near the border. Economy…

Might. Yes. Might.

http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/neo-nazis-are-attacking-anti-...

http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/774251/calgary-man-couldnt-...

2. Still, being close to the border, while justification for locating a city there, may not actually make sense in terms of geography. Your point supports mine.

3. Without a border, I suggested that the location for Seattle would be the optimum location for a major metropolis

4. Detroit vs. Windsor has nothing to do with my suggestion. Neither does Toronto vs. Buffalo. Though perhaps without the border, Detroit and Windsor would have merged into one bigger city.

Re: Leaving Google

#229

Post by jff »

eevilspock wrote: post #173
BlackDeath3 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll forgive me if I have trouble believing that, given that you consider Seattle to be "hick".

Dude, I'm obviously speaking hyperbolically, i.e. rhetorically. Relative to any big city with cosmopolitan aspirations, it is a hick town. The number of coworkers I had there who owned rifles and hunted, who drove pickup trucks, who brewed their own beer, who had difficulty with non-Americanized ethnic food puts it a lot closer to a small town than to cities like San Francisco, Chicago or New York.

> The number of coworkers I had there who owned rifles and hunted, who drove pickup trucks, who brewed their own beer

These sound like really good coworkers actually.

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