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Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

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Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#181

Post by luckydude »

eclipxe wrote: post #57
halpme wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to UC Davis but would frequently visit Sac. It's such a beautiful and laid-back city, and the people are great. SF is only a one hour drive away and Lake Tahoe is relatively close too. I've been living in Mountain View for a couple months and I miss the Davis/Sac area more and more as time goes on. The atmosphere here is, I dunno, toxic. Too many people here size each other up based on where they work and wher…

>The atmosphere here is, I dunno, toxic. Too many people here size each other up based on where they work and where they live and people are way too obsessed with advancing their careers and chasing higher salaries, more luxurious cars, nicer apartments, etc. Everyone seems to have some sort of inferiority complex if they don't work for the "Big 4". People in Davis/Sac seemed less superficial and it was a lot easier…

Moved to Mountain View in 1987, then to SF about a year later, then to the Santa Cruz mountains about 10 years ago.

My wife and I were in tech that whole time (me: SCO, Sun, SGI, Cobalt, briefly at Google, then BitMover).

Neither of us enjoy going to Mountain View any more. It's the worst parts of a big city (crowded, traffic, parking, expensive housing) and the worst part of the suburbs.

And there is a lot of snobbery about where you work and what you do, that's been there since the first day I got there (and I'm part of the problem, I was all snotty about the fact that I worked in Sun's kernel group; at the time that was the top of the heap, at least in my eyes).

Personally, I'm happier up in the mountains. Can still get to SF in about 1h15m, get to the valley in about 30m but I live among redwoods, falcons, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#182

Post by doseofreality »

amerkhalid wrote: post #92
theli0nheart wrote: post #36

My wife and I moved to Austin from LA about 3 years ago, and haven't looked back. Prices are climbing here (as they are everywhere else), but since the city is growing, the number of desirable areas continues to increase. I'd highly recommend coming here. The city has a very laid-back culture, and despite being relatively large, still isn't really overwhelming like other big cities can be. Our key reasons for coming…

100F days are perfect days to spend in the pool though.

But more likely they'll be spent in the office.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#183

Post by tnash »

Columbus, OH is pretty great. The Dublin Entrepreneurial Center has cheap office space and access to the Metro Data Center on the same floor. There are a couple nice co-working spots too like 400 West Rich.

We have a burgeoning food scene that gets better every year. Cost of living is pretty cheap, we have an NHL team (not to mention NCAA powerhouse OSU), new apartments are going up seemingly everywhere, and Amazon's building a data center here.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#184

Post by gonehome »

mikekij wrote: post #108

San Diego is awesome. The cost of living is probably 30% less than the bay area (I rent a 4 bedroom single family house for $2495), I live 3 miles from the beach, and there are a fair number of tech companies in the area, focusing primarily on healthcare and defense. And I love the outdoor activity opportunities. Direct flights to SFO are about $140 round trip, or less.

I rent a three bedroom connected townhouse in Palo Alto for $6150.

Not sure if that's normal, but San Diego sounds a lot cheaper than 30% (it is a nice townhouse though)

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#185

Post by sheri »

eclipxe wrote: post #57
halpme wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to UC Davis but would frequently visit Sac. It's such a beautiful and laid-back city, and the people are great. SF is only a one hour drive away and Lake Tahoe is relatively close too. I've been living in Mountain View for a couple months and I miss the Davis/Sac area more and more as time goes on. The atmosphere here is, I dunno, toxic. Too many people here size each other up based on where they work and wher…

>The atmosphere here is, I dunno, toxic. Too many people here size each other up based on where they work and where they live and people are way too obsessed with advancing their careers and chasing higher salaries, more luxurious cars, nicer apartments, etc. Everyone seems to have some sort of inferiority complex if they don't work for the "Big 4". People in Davis/Sac seemed less superficial and it was a lot easier…

> Is this your own set of insecurities being projected on others? I never got that sense in SV...

I am not the OP, but I share his/her views. To the above point, maybe?

I used to perceive NY/Wall-Street as all about image, and SF/tech-scene to be much more down-to-earth and friendly. I don't find that anymore. Taking Caltrain, I see people wearing Google/FB/Twitter/XXX t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, bags etc. Company badges are displayed prominently, and its easy to recognize companies from the badge. YC t-shirts, sweatshirts are also common. If not company t-shirts, then I see tons of MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Harvard t-shirts, sweatshirts etc. I rarely saw any company or university branded apparel in NYC.

The prominence of these in SV seems like a way to showcase an elite status.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#186

Post by bazqux2 »

Panama City Panama. Zero tax on foreign income. If you continue contracting for US companies all of your income will be foreign.

It makes a huge difference. I paid over 40% in tax in SF. Tons of tech people are doing it as they can more easily work remote and are already competing on a global stage. I've joined a share house of foreign tech workers who all doing the same thing for the same reasons. It is in one of the luxury apartment complexes.

* Note: Americans will still own the IRS money if they earn more than $100K. It's still worth doing. I'm not an American.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#187

Post by jlaurend »

Been in Milwaukee for the past year and I have to say -- Milwaukee is underrated. We came from Boston to do an accelerator, gener8tor, in Madison (also a great city worth looking at) and ended up here.

* Cost of living is low and quality of life is high. * People know how to have a good time and there's always something to do (sports are huge - Packers, Brewers, Bucks, college sports, etc). * Summer is AMAZING. There's an incredible number of festivals going on (with summerfest at the forefront). * Commutes are super short. * Lake Michigan is awesome. * Chicago is only 75 minutes away by train or car. * The startup scene is on the rise.

The downsides are:

* Cold winters (comparable to Boston with less snow but colder winds). * While not necessary, a car is desirable. * The tech scene is relatively small. (But growing!)

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#189

Post by matt_wulfeck »

bazqux2 wrote: post #186

Panama City Panama. Zero tax on foreign income. If you continue contracting for US companies all of your income will be foreign. It makes a huge difference. I paid over 40% in tax in SF. Tons of tech people are doing it as they can more easily work remote and are already competing on a global stage. I've joined a share house of foreign tech workers who all doing the same thing for the same reasons. It is in one of th…

Last time I lived abroad (and you need to live for more than a year) it was basically an $80k deduction. So at $100k you're taxed at $20k. Small clarification but it made a big difference.

Re: Ask HN: Moving Out of Silicon Valley because of housing? Where to?

#190

Post by brianbreslin »

So what are your criteria? Do you have a job you'll be working remotely from? Looking for a new job?

I would chose in order of preference - Quality of life factors (life is about living, not about working) - Cost to income ratio - How interesting the place is - Local job market - How accessible the place is (airline hubs rule, travel the world)

I'm happy to answer any questions regarding Miami, or @afontaine can as well. However I don't know if Miami is a good fit (I'm clearly biased)

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