In Defense of the Midwest • Hacker News Board

Re: In Defense of the Midwest

#51

Post by meow_mix » Mon, Mar 09, 2015, 4:33 AM UTC

loganfrederick wrote: post #19

meow_mix wrote: post #10

There's also a really great budding startup scene in Columbus centered around Ohio State. The midwest really shouldn't be discounted for work, especially considering how cramped the valley's becoming.

Do you work/live in Columbus? I graduated from OSU in 2012 and it's great to hear on HN other people who feel the city is exciting.

I'm a student at Ohio State and I work part time as a web contractor. This summer I'll be in Seattle as an intern at Amazon though, so I'm excited to see the difference.

Re: In Defense of the Midwest

#52

Post by mahyarm » Mon, Mar 09, 2015, 4:33 AM UTC

bglazer wrote: post #16

rdtsc wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Every large city (>1M people) will almost certainly have communities of people who share your culture or at least tolerate and support it. That is not enough. There need to be companies willing to hire. Those companies spring around where there is more talent so they don't have to relocate everyone. Where is more talent? Around more companies. It is a feedback loop. Network effect is probably the correct phrase her…

I was going to add a comment at the end about how I fear that I may be fighting a losing battle against socioeconomic feedback loops. That's profoundly sad to me though. Concentrating all of the technological revolution's talent and wealth in a few cities will have bad effects on the rest of the country.

I would more call it a gravitational effect. The SFBA has more +$30mm net worth families than all of CANADA alone for example. I call it the black hole of money.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/11/21/ultra-high-net-worth...

Re: In Defense of the Midwest

#53

Post by monksy » Mon, Mar 09, 2015, 4:34 AM UTC

micro-ram wrote: post #8

larrywright wrote: post #3

As a fellow Midwesterner, I say "Amen". I live halfway between Chicago and St. Louis - a two hour drive in either direction. We've got everything we need, including great schools and tons of dining and entertainment options. I own a 2500 square foot house that will be completely paid for in 10 years, and my mortgage is ~$700/month. I've been to both coasts and many large cities in the US and abroad. I'd still rather…

Agreed. Hi neighbor. Have 200mbit fiber now. Getting gigabit fiber in a few days. Welcome to Central Illinois. NO TRAFFIC!

WTF?!

It's a struggle just to get gigabit to the home in Chicago.

Re: In Defense of the Midwest

#54

Post by joelrunyon » Mon, Mar 09, 2015, 4:35 AM UTC

rdtsc wrote: post #13

bglazer wrote: post #9

I live in Memphis TN and I've found that comments on HN towards the middle of the US are skewed negative. Perhaps I have a bias for remembering negative comments. Nonetheless, I find this attitude perplexing from the HN crowd. I understand the value of physical proximity to lots of other like minded, smart people. However, I would have thought that the tech crowd would be the first to decry the inefficiencies of havi…

> Every large city (>1M people) will almost certainly have communities of people who share your culture or at least tolerate and support it. That is not enough. There need to be companies willing to hire. Those companies spring around where there is more talent so they don't have to relocate everyone. Where is more talent? Around more companies. It is a feedback loop. Network effect is probably the correct phrase her…

You're seeing quite a few big offices in Chicago (Groupon, Nokia, CareerBuilder, Cars.com, Google, Razorfish, Grubhub, etc)

Re: In Defense of the Midwest

#55

Post by mahyarm » Mon, Mar 09, 2015, 4:37 AM UTC

If you bought your house at 2010, it's not that bad.

Re: In Defense of the Midwest

#56

Post by meritt » Mon, Mar 09, 2015, 4:39 AM UTC

msutherl wrote: post #24

(1) Cleveland gets all the Broadway shows once they go off Broadway, but at about half the cost, (2) We have great music here, including the world-renowned Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, and tons of bands come through, (3) We have some great sports teams (hi, OSU) and a ton of great sports fans (hi, Browns fans), (4) We have great food at very affordable prices Yes, exactly. As someone who lives in New York, this is the v…

Nobody gives a fuck about you, nor your hipster definition of culture.

Re: In Defense of the Midwest

#57

Post by throwaway_1jl » Mon, Mar 09, 2015, 4:40 AM UTC

fjk wrote: post #30

dasil003 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pennsylvania the 33rd largest state. It is definitely not a large state by western standards. I guess if you consider NYC the center of the universe then maybe it's the Midwest, but as a Midwesterner (from Minneapolis) I'm not really feeling that.

I think puls meant that Pennsylvania is a big state in the sense that Philadelphia is considered to be a part of the east coast while Pittsburgh (home of Carnegie Mellon) is often considered to be a part of the midwest . In that sense, Pennsylvania is a big state. Perhaps "wide" is a better descriptor. Pittsburgh is kind of a buffer between the east coast and the midwest. Architecturally, it feels more like an east c…

> Architecturally, it feels more like an east coast city, but culturally it feels more midwestern.

I grew up in Illinois/Missouri and lived in Pittsburgh. This is spot on.

Re: In Defense of the Midwest

#58

Post by xxpor » Mon, Mar 09, 2015, 4:40 AM UTC

seany wrote: post #4

Also, gun laws aren't total shit like they are on most of the coast.

Who cares? Honestly.

If that's decides where you move... I honestly feel extremely sorry for you.

Re: In Defense of the Midwest

#59

Post by datashovel » Mon, Mar 09, 2015, 4:40 AM UTC

I spent the first ~10 years of my web-dev career in Los Angeles / Orange County area, and South Florida tri-county area. Since 2009 (with a brief stint in Atlanta) I've been an independent consultant in Ohio. Not just the midwest, but a town of only a few thousand. The larger local businesses don't just have parking lots. They have built parking structures for Amish horse and buggies.

I've never in my career felt more productive and fulfilled than I have since doing this. It was the best career choice I've ever made.

The only complaint I have is that not just my local area, but Ohio and surrounding states in general seem to still be in the equivalent of the dark ages when it comes to technology and the web. I've lucked into some really good, steady clients who appreciate my work, so I know it's out there. The ratio of tech-savvy businesses is definitely obviously lower than you would expect to find in New York or San Francisco. I imagine it's only going to get better though, which I'm really looking forward to.

Re: In Defense of the Midwest

#60

Post by shyy » Mon, Mar 09, 2015, 4:43 AM UTC

I grew up in Akron, Ohio and now live in the Bay Area.

Everyone points out the obvious differences like the weather, seasons, and cost of living (housing in particular).

But one thing I rarely see mentioned is it seems that people in Northeast Ohio seem far less judgmental in general. Whereas here, I feel like every third person you meet is trying to size you up or “demonstrate” how smart they are.

Granted that’s probably a side effect of an overall higher bar of success for the region…

But it’s still refreshing to get a break from that attitude when I visit family back home. Unfortunately the there’s such a severe lack of tech jobs in Ohio that I doubt I’ll ever be moving back.