What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco • Hacker News Board

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#211

Post by JabavuAdams » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 7:10 PM UTC

run4yourlives wrote: post #66

JabavuAdams wrote: post #44

I'm living in Toronto, Canada, and the SF crack-head thing is always a shock. If I'm in SF, it's for conferences and it's always strange that literally one block away from our expensive hotel, there are zombies shambling about -- and this is totally normal! For those who know Toronto: it's like you're in Yorkdale, you walk one block and you're in the worst part of Parkdale. The other odd thing is that I seem to pay a…

It's more a west coast thing. I grew up in Toronto and I can tell you the same thing shocked me about moving to Vancouver. Crackheads/street people don't like to freeze, so they move to the warmth is. I'd imagine this is as true in the US as it is in Canada.

Good point! I'd heard about this, but didn't realize the significance.

So my dream of becoming a homeless programmer in Hawaii is still alive!

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#212

Post by itsybitsycoder » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 7:10 PM UTC

bherms wrote: post #153

noname123 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, in your opinion, what should be the net worth target for people making regular tech income in their 30's, 40's and 50's if they want to eek out comfortable living in retirement, inflation-adjusted?

Not my opinion, but I once read somewhere that you should aim for a savings (+investments) of 1x salary by 30, 5x by 40, 10+x by 50.

Based on the 10x at 50 multiplier, I'm guessing that's for retirement savings/investments alone, not a net worth target. (It makes a big difference if you're planning on making any other big expenditures -- down payment on a house, helping the kids with college, etc.)

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#213

Post by dominostars » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 7:12 PM UTC

bherms wrote: post #196

guyzero wrote: post #84

On it getting cold at 4 PM, I quote the estimable "30 Rock": "Can’t hack it in the big city? Gonna move to the Bay Area now, pretend that was your dream the whole time? Have fun always carrying a light sweater."

I hate that everyone calls the weather here amazing. Being cold all but maybe 30-40 days a year is not incredible weather, especially factoring in fog.

I'll be the first to complain about San Francisco weather, but the weather in the peninsula and south bay is nothing short of amazing.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#214

Post by Cyranix » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 7:13 PM UTC

xradionut wrote: post #102

driverdan wrote: post #83

I considered moving to SF but chose Austin instead. I refuse to live in a state with such a dysfunctional government and ridiculously high taxes. Some of the same reasons I left NY. You can do tech anywhere. You do not need to live in the bay area. If you really like the city pick a place (like Austin) with inexpensive direct flights and go a few times a month. You'll still save money.

Here in Texas we have dysfunctional government and ridiculously shitty services.

As a former Austinite, I can say that it's very easy to forget that you're in Texas when living in Austin. This creates the good feeling of being an oasis and the bad feeling of being a bubble.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#215

Post by jrockway » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 7:13 PM UTC

Manhattan is a lot more expensive than San Francisco. Even Brooklyn is more expensive, just not by much.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#216

Post by SkyMarshal » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 7:15 PM UTC

kaolinite wrote: post #2

Palo Alto and Mountain View are farther away than you think Hm, when I visited it felt like a pretty quick journey - no more than 30 minutes via Caltrain. Perhaps it was just excitement though!

More like 38m to 1hr, but feels like 30.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#217

Post by bernardom » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 7:15 PM UTC

wilfra wrote: post #185

softbuilder wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You lost credibility with me by repeated use of the vulgar "San Fran". It's THE CITY. :)

Actually, it's 'frisco'

mmm.....

Disagree: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/dont-call-it-frisco-laundroma...

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#218

Post by kjackson2012 » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 7:17 PM UTC

juan_juarez wrote: post #197

kjackson2012 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, no one from the Bay Area refers to San Francisco as "San Fran". Even worse is when people refer to it as "Frisco". It's either SF or "The City".

"The City" refers to the core of whatever urban area you're in. It's meaningless outside of your local frame of reference. The only place in the US that has a halfway legitimate claim universal ownership of that name is NYC and that's tenuous at best.

If you read more carefully, I said people from the Bay Area call SF "The City". I didn't say it was the universal name for SF, just for the people in the area.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#219

Post by rdl » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 7:18 PM UTC

The really big point to consider, IMO, is within SFBA -- there are huge differences among SF, Peninsula, and East Bay, and variations within each of those as well. I personally put SF below many other places in the US to live, but really like the Peninsula -- the big issues being crazy California-level politics/taxes/regulations and really high cost of living (mainly, housing and tax; fixing zoning issues would bring down housing prices, and fixing prop 13).

It's like comparing West Texas and Austin.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#220

Post by kafkaesque » Thu, Jan 17, 2013, 7:21 PM UTC

run4yourlives wrote: post #170

kafkaesque wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is anecdotal, so I guess you can take it with a grain of salt. But as someone from Vancouver who has visited SF quite a bit, SF always seemed to have more homelessness (it does have a warmer climate than Van) and more parts that smelled really bad. I might be desensitised to it already, though. Also, throughout my time living in Vancouver, I've never witnessed a robbery/theft/crime, whereas visiting SF last mont…

I lived downtown in Vancouver for 5 years - I think I had my car broken into about 200 times, no exaggeration. It got so bad I just left the damn thing open. Everything in the US is basically X 10, so you have to allow for that in the similarities.

Wow. That's awful. Sorry to hear.

I only know a few people with cars in Vancouver, and none ever had their cars broken into except one who lived on the Drive.

Now, I know a bunch of people who own bicycles. Vancouver is notorious for their bicycle thieves!