Is the salary of remote employees working for Bay Area companies the same as for local employees, or do they differ based on cost of living?
California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents
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Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents
#22I just visited some friends in southern California and the possibility of me moving out there came up in conversation. So, I used a cost of living calculator to figure how much more I would need to make to be at the same level... 60% more. Definitely not going to happen.
I visited a few times in the past. Spent a large part of the day stuck in LA traffic. It wasn't even morning or evening community, it seems it is an all day kinda thing. There was a metro / subway there but it never seemed to go where we wanted to go.
I only took Uber mostly but would also commute from downtown to Beverly Hills. I never once got stuck in traffic but we always left after 10am.
Also it depends on which way you are going. The 405 north of Sunset is a disaster if you (in general) are going from West LA to the Valley after work but if you travel the opposite ways, traffic is generally fine...
Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents
#23Is the salary of remote employees working for Bay Area companies the same as for local employees, or do they differ based on cost of living?
I have worked at two separate companies where they differ, typically 10-13% delta from what I remember...
Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Totally. Speaking as someone who lived in the bay area for 4 years and happily left after college, why live in CA when you can work remotely from anywhere else, live well, own a sizable property, and make decent bank? The bay area is great to visit, I was literally just there a couple months ago. But to live I would need to make 4x what I do now.
Of course, hobbies and preferences are inherently subjective, but CA has a lot to offer. Parts of the state have (what I consider) perfect weather year round; access to the beach and mountains to ski/snowboard, tons of other outdoor activities, etc. You can find most of these in other places, of course, but CA is pretty unique in that it's all in the same state, and easily accessible.
No one is denying the beauty, and adventures that await in California, that's why people live there. The issue here is what the original article is all about. When it becomes a grind just to live there, you can't even enjoy what makes it so awesome to be there.
Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents
#25I'm fine here. I have a job in tech and I'll be able to put down roots and buy a home, Etc.
However by virtue of living here I basically force all of my children to do the same or move away. it's simply too hard to live here unless you're working in tech.
Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents
#26Seattle is tempting as a SF resident but I think Seattle tech scene is much more risk-adverse (i.e. AMZN, MSFT employees) and not as entrepreneurially minded as in SF.
Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents
#27One of the local public radio stations had a show this week about how well San Francisco is doing budget-wise. Apparently, the San Francisco budget in the last decade has been growing much faster than the local economy, and it's been all going towards paying pension obligations, assistance to homeless and low-income people etc. Talk about killing the golden goose.
Being from Chicago I say it's a good thing to pay down the pension obligations. Pension obligations can cause a lot of problems in the future. Although I don't believe governments should be growing their budgets aggressively, squaring gov obligations is a good thing.
They aren't paying them down. They are just paying them.
Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents
#28I spent most of my childhood in California. Real estate is and always has been the number one industry in the state. The majority of my childhood friends' wealth seems to derive from houses their families bought in the early 80s or earlier. Prices have benefited from a stable of one trick ponies - fixed low property taxes (prop 13), massive population growth (net domestic migration is now negative), job growth from the tech sector, the cultural shift to assortive mating of dual income white collar professionals, and the drop to near zero interest rates. I thought for sure that prices had hit the mathematically inevitable plateau - and then came tens of billions in foreign capital fleeing China. Is there another unpredictable one trick pony waiting in the wings? At some point it seems like prices would have to hit a ceiling reflecting the fact that all future appreciation and demand has been pulled forward, at which time the great financial machine grinds down to a much slower pace, if not a halt. It will be interesting to watch and see what happens.
Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents
#29One of the local public radio stations had a show this week about how well San Francisco is doing budget-wise. Apparently, the San Francisco budget in the last decade has been growing much faster than the local economy, and it's been all going towards paying pension obligations, assistance to homeless and low-income people etc. Talk about killing the golden goose.
Being from Chicago I say it's a good thing to pay down the pension obligations. Pension obligations can cause a lot of problems in the future. Although I don't believe governments should be growing their budgets aggressively, squaring gov obligations is a good thing.
Why do government pensions even exist anymore? There is absolutely no reason for them and they need to go. The government can pay a reasonable salary if they wanted skilled workers.
Re: California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I move around and travel a lot for work - I've lived in 4 states in the last 2 years (CO, WA, CA, TX) - and one of the universal things across all the midwest and west coast that I've found is that while most people like the weather/scenery in California EVERYONE hates people from California, except for the people in California. I've heard the saying "California would be great if it wasn't for the people" in literall…
Is there anyone FROM California anymore? I'm guessing that sentiment comes from the type that are attracted to the entertainment industry.
Born in Concord, California, but got out by the time I was 8.