Have any of you moved to the Bay Area for tech and hated the atmosphere? How long did you stay and where did you move to after?
Move to SF and hate it?
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Re: Move to SF and hate it?
#2I did, and yes I hate the climate. I've stayed for a decade, and threatened to move back to New York quite consistently. There's nowhere else in the country to live for tech though, everything else really feels like amateur hour.
Re: Move to SF and hate it?
#3I did, and yes I hate the climate. I've stayed for a decade, and threatened to move back to New York quite consistently. There's nowhere else in the country to live for tech though, everything else really feels like amateur hour.
Yeah, I just came from New York as well. Visiting here was fun, living here is a hassle. I try to get something done and they ask me what the rush is.
Re: Move to SF and hate it?
#4What about people who moved from European countries, did you enjoy it? Just something I have considered, but wasn't sure. Like how does the infrastructure compare, such as public transport?
Re: Move to SF and hate it?
#5Every time I'm in the valley, I don't like that it's a bubble and quite clique-y.
Other than that, it's really a cool place, with a nice climate and history. Not to mention, the Mecca of Tech.
Re: Move to SF and hate it?
#6Stayed 10 years; moved back home to raise kids. Tired of the crowd, the cement, the monotonous conversations (work/mortgage/traffic).
But nowhere else in the world is better, at least to get started. Worked 3 startups remotely by now, using connections made during those 10 years.
Re: Move to SF and hate it?
#7I've written up some (brief) thoughts on San Francisco here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-greenspan/why-i-hate-san... and on the rest of the Valley here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-greenspan/all-is-not-wel....
San Francisco parking and traffic and present start-up culture aside, I do think it's a really nice place to live.
Re: Move to SF and hate it?
#8I did, and yes I hate the climate. I've stayed for a decade, and threatened to move back to New York quite consistently. There's nowhere else in the country to live for tech though, everything else really feels like amateur hour.
Yeah, I just came from New York as well. Visiting here was fun, living here is a hassle. I try to get something done and they ask me what the rush is.
I lived in SF for 6 years and started to hate it, so I moved to NYC. I really like SF the city, and am one of the weird people who usually likes the cool weather. However, something about it felt like a retirement village for young people.
NYC is great but has its own set of headaches. I've found the tech scene pretty close to being on-par with SF if you're doing web or mobile, or even "BIG DATA". SV has a strong advantage if you're building things like routers, robots or electric cars. I miss TechShop.
Re: Move to SF and hate it?
#9I lived there this summer and fell in love with SF, aside from the whole Silicon Valley thing. It's definitely for a certain type of person: you'll find incredible diversity and openness in the people. A couple of small things I noticed that really pleased me: (1) interracial couples are incredibly common, more so than any other city I've visited or lived in anywhere in the world, (2) people are genuinely open and friendly; the GLBT friendliness is just a specific effect of this, (3) you have incredible high-end dining near the Embarcadero, and incredible low-end dining in the Mission, (4) no matter what your "scene" is, it's quite likely that you'll find like-minded people, (5) if you want nature, drive 20 minutes or less; if you want tech, drive an hour; if you want city, drive 5 minutes anywhere; if you don't have a car, use Zipcar, (6) the city is incredibly small, which makes it a lot of fun. And some things I absolutely hate: (1) parking sucks, (2) the cops on the MUNI/BART are a bunch of assholes, (3) cabs are sometimes difficult to get.
People complain about the fog, but there's really never any fog in the south bay area/Silicon Valley.
Re: Move to SF and hate it?
#10What about people who moved from European countries, did you enjoy it? Just something I have considered, but wasn't sure. Like how does the infrastructure compare, such as public transport?
Hi, I'm originally American but have been living in Zurich for the past 2 years (I also previously lived in Denmark for 1 year and Norway for 3 months). I moved to SF just for the summer to launch my startup. SF is great for many reasons, but it nowhere near compares to the infrastructure and quality of life I got in Switzerland, Norway and Denmark. That said, relative to the US SF is one of the few cities where it is even possible to make your way without a car.