Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why do developers who could work anywhere flock to the most expensive cities?

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

401–408 of 408 posts

Re: Why do developers who could work anywhere flock to the most expensive cities?

#401

Post by Arizhel »

thatwebdude wrote: post #398
Arizhel wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's worth pointing out that the "big four" tech companies aren't the only tech companies worth working at. They're not, but there's lots of other large-to-midsize tech companies out there that people don't mention when they mention the Big Four, because they're mostly the same. They're in the same locations, and work largely the same. >You could very well have a higher upside working at a small, remotely friendly c…

This isn't cut-and-dry. There are plenty of opportunities to work in cheap parts of the country (US). If I lost my job (or more than likely, quit on my own terms, which I've done many times before, even before I had a position lined up), I wouldn't be concerned with finding another one within 2 weeks. Every day I'm responding to recruiters on LinkedIn looking for talent. And I'm not that talented. There are even requ…

Yes, there are plenty of opportunities to work in cheap parts of the US. I get emails from recruiters for jobs in these places all the time. The problem is, these opportunities are not in the same place! So if I were to take one of them, I would then be working in a town where my employer is the only place that hires people with my skills, and if that job goes bad, now I'm forced to sell my house and move, because there's no other employer within commuting distance. This is why tech hubs are so popular, and why they're "tech hubs": they achieve the critical mass needed to turn them into such.

I'm sorry, but I simply do not feel comfortable taking on a giant risk by signing up for a house mortgage in a city where I will be forced to move out if something goes wrong with my job. I don't think I'm the only person who thinks that way.

Re: Why do developers who could work anywhere flock to the most expensive cities?

#402

Post by Arizhel »

John23832 wrote: post #399
Arizhel wrote: post #385

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you miss the November election? That should be proof enough. Compare the anti-Vietnam-war protests of the early 1970s to the anti-Iraq-war protests in the 2000s... oh wait, there were no anti-war protests in the 2000s; everyone in America was all for that. Compare the birthrates for liberal, irreligious people to conservative, religious people.

>Did you miss the November election? That should be proof enough. Liberals won the popular vote... > Compare the anti-Vietnam-war protests of the early 1970s to the anti-Iraq-war protests in the 2000s... oh wait, there were no anti-war protests in the 2000s; everyone in America was all for that. That is a disingenuous comparison. The support for the Iraq war was so high because a the biggest terrorist attack in US hi…

>Liberals won the popular vote...

Irrelevant. The Electoral College doesn't work that way, and also, Republicans won elections across the board in all the other races: House, Senate, governors, state legislatures, etc.

Basically, the liberals clustered into a few coastal cities were numerous enough to win the presidential popular vote, but that doesn't affect much except the mayoral races in those cities, and the California state government (1 of 50).

>The support for the Iraq war was so high because a the biggest terrorist attack in US history had just happened and we were going after the people we thought responsible.

Only a complete moron believed at the time that Saddam had anything to do with 9/11.

>If you compare a similar situation WWII and Pearl Harbor, there were not protests for that either.

It was no secret that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Their planes were military planes, and had the Japanese flag on them. They even tried to send a warning first but screwed that up somehow.

Not so with Iraq. Despite what chimp Bush said, it was all too obvious to anyone with half a brain that there was no relation there, and the 9/11 hijackers were all Saudis anyway. And the Iraq war wasn't about 9/11 (that's why we invaded Afghanistan, something that wasn't really protested for pretty good reason since Osama really was there), it was about "WMD" which didn't exist. The whole thing was a giant sham and lie, and it was obvious.

>Birth rates for people who typically "vote liberal"(minorities) in the united states are much higher than those of "conservative voters" (white people).

The high-birth-rate minorities are very religious and are in favor of extremely socially conservative policies such as banning abortion. They only "vote liberal" because the GOP panders to white racists and anti-minority voters, for now. As soon as that changes, liberalism is dead in this country. Lots of those minorities are already voting GOP because of social policies and religion.

Moreover, you sidestepped my challenge. I said to compare the birthrates for "liberal, irreligious people" to conservative, religious people. The minorities in this country are not irreligious by a long shot; in fact, they're frequently a lot more religious that the average conservative.

Re: Why do developers who could work anywhere flock to the most expensive cities?

#403

Post by John23832 »

Arizhel wrote: post #402
John23832 wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Did you miss the November election? That should be proof enough. Liberals won the popular vote... > Compare the anti-Vietnam-war protests of the early 1970s to the anti-Iraq-war protests in the 2000s... oh wait, there were no anti-war protests in the 2000s; everyone in America was all for that. That is a disingenuous comparison. The support for the Iraq war was so high because a the biggest terrorist attack in US hi…

>Liberals won the popular vote... Irrelevant. The Electoral College doesn't work that way, and also, Republicans won elections across the board in all the other races: House, Senate, governors, state legislatures, etc. Basically, the liberals clustered into a few coastal cities were numerous enough to win the presidential popular vote, but that doesn't affect much except the mayoral races in those cities, and the Cal…

Come on man, enough with the acrobatics.

>Irrelevant. The Electoral College doesn't work that way, and also, Republicans won elections across the board in all the other races: House, Senate, governors, state legislatures, etc.

Your argument was that liberalism was on a downward trend. On the US's biggest election stage, more people identified with the liberal politics than the conservative ones. Those other races have much smaller turnouts on any given day than the presidential election.

> Only a complete moron believed at the time that Saddam had anything to do with 9/11. not the same yada...

You can say that as your opinion, but the national sentiment at the time went with that as fact. Check the history.

> Moreover, you sidestepped my challenge. I said to compare the birthrates for "liberal, irreligious people" to conservative, religious people. The minorities in this country are not irreligious by a long shot; in fact, they're frequently a lot more religious that the average conservative.

Social conservatism does not imply political conservatism...

Re: Why do developers who could work anywhere flock to the most expensive cities?

#404

Post by thatwebdude »

Arizhel wrote: post #401
thatwebdude wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't cut-and-dry. There are plenty of opportunities to work in cheap parts of the country (US). If I lost my job (or more than likely, quit on my own terms, which I've done many times before, even before I had a position lined up), I wouldn't be concerned with finding another one within 2 weeks. Every day I'm responding to recruiters on LinkedIn looking for talent. And I'm not that talented. There are even requ…

Yes, there are plenty of opportunities to work in cheap parts of the US. I get emails from recruiters for jobs in these places all the time. The problem is, these opportunities are not in the same place! So if I were to take one of them, I would then be working in a town where my employer is the only place that hires people with my skills, and if that job goes bad, now I'm forced to sell my house and move, because th…

Your commuting requirements list must be very large.

Re: Why do developers who could work anywhere flock to the most expensive cities?

#405

Post by jklepatch »

gsch wrote: post #150
henrikschroder wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Oh, and there were 6 of us, in a 3 bedroom apartment. This is such a weird American phenomenon, the whole roommate thing. What on earth can make adults choose to share their home with a stranger? Why isn't there intense pressure for building many small apartments, rather than building larger apartments that are meant for roommates? Is it connected to the equally weird college dorm roommate system? Why are people ac…

On the other hand, I think there are really good reasons for co-living beyond saving a bit of money. There's a great community aspect to it as well. On the occasions where I've lived by myself, I've mostly ended up bored and sedentary, whereas in co-living arrangements, there's always people to chat or cook with, hang out, etc. Of course, I'm still in my late 20s, so take this with a massive grain of salt. But if my…

+1 for the community aspect.

I also could afford to live on my own but I prefer to have roomates.

I live overseas,where as a foreigner a personal network is even more important that back home.

Having roomates makes my social life easier. No need to spend so much energy meeting new people outside. There are often people hanging out in the living room. I rarely feel lonely and often meet new cool people,at home.

Re: Why do developers who could work anywhere flock to the most expensive cities?

#406

Post by [deleted] »

Lio wrote: post #178
reustle wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you just need to move to a more bike friendly city/country :)

Whilst that could be true (there's a distinct mountain shortage in these parts) it doesn't entirely solve the city road/bike path problem. In cities that are renowned bike friendliness e.g. Amsterdam or Copenhagen most of the cycling is low speed on the excellent cycle paths. Most of the riders are on utility bikes in their everyday clothing (as opposed to dressing to go fast and get sweaty). If people are just peace…

[deleted]

Re: Why do developers who could work anywhere flock to the most expensive cities?

#407

Post by Qwertious »

henrikschroder wrote: post #145
rubicon33 wrote: post #38

I used to live in SF. It was exciting, but also shitty. I felt connected and alive, which was great, but also drained of resources, which really sucked. Oh, and there were 6 of us, in a 3 bedroom apartment. I had the living room. Yea. I lasted 3 years, until I met my wife, and by then I was ready to move. We did. Now, life in the suburbs, is slow. I feel somewhat disconnected and like I don't really belong to this co…

> Oh, and there were 6 of us, in a 3 bedroom apartment. This is such a weird American phenomenon, the whole roommate thing. What on earth can make adults choose to share their home with a stranger? Why isn't there intense pressure for building many small apartments, rather than building larger apartments that are meant for roommates? Is it connected to the equally weird college dorm roommate system? Why are people ac…

What's with the cultural notion that everyone needs their own kitchen and batchroom and "living room" common room? If you want cheap rent, you need to par down what you need personally, and share everything that you don't.

Re: Why do developers who could work anywhere flock to the most expensive cities?

#408

Post by LifeQuestioner »

septimus111 wrote: post #387
LifeQuestioner wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, there's quite a few places in the UK I think you'd be surprised. The salary's are not as high - but they're still really high and outside of london you save mega moneys. Moved to Glasgow for a higher salary than I had in London, and where rent is 1/3 of the price. There's Edinburgh, Manchester(home of the bbc) (ranked as two of the best cities for tech in the UK, manchester for media city), Bristol, Bath, Newcas…

That does surprise me, in a good way! My concern, aside from salary, would be job security - in London it's possible to find a new job within days... I will look into Edinburgh :)

Edinburgh is a beautiful city - although to warn the rents are higher than most other cities. (I lived there for 5 years). HOWEVER the flats tend to be HUGE so it's good value for money. I had a bedroom in Edinburgh that was the size of my entire 1 bedroom flat in London.

There's some startup hubs in Edinburgh that are really friendly - i'd go put your cv in there. One is called "codebase"

Post reply on HN