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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?

#51

Post by jtreminio »

Vnjjkkll wrote: post #2

NYC. Its still expensive obviously but more diverse. Not a mono-culture. Cold/long winters are not much fun. But there are nicer small classic american town in NY and Long Island, which can be affordable. Train commute is ok if you can work remote a couple days per week and get some work done on the trains. Beaches are close, skiing upstate is decent. Lots of opportunity in NYC/Brooklyn. A very nice home (4 bedroom,…

> A very nice home (4 bedroom, good schools, 1 acre, pretty area) can be had for under $1M.

Holy shit.

A very nice home in DFW can go for ~$300k.

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

#52

Post by HelloMcFly »

Well, I'll give a plug for a different city: Atlanta. My wife and I moved from Atlanta to Seattle a few years back, and while we love the PNW we're definitely looking forward to moving back this summer. Seattle is wonderful, but the traffic has gotten noticeably worse since we've been here, and housing just never worked for us.

Atlanta has a lot of opportunity, including in the tech space. It's no Seattle or SF, obviously, but it's a bit of a job oasis on the south. I also personally feel like the city has about 5x the culture and character of either Seattle or SF (where my wife lived for awhile), but that's probably a preference on type of culture than absolute value of culture.

I'll miss all the craft brews of the PNW, but can't wait to be back near the heartland of BBQ.

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

#53

Post by teej »

voxic11 wrote: post #33
djb_hackernews wrote: post #30

Boston/Cambridge is hot but there has always been a strong tech scene here so it's not so much up and coming. Cambridge is on top of their game, Boston is doing really well despite its city government. The issue with the Boston area is your COL is about the same as SF but your standard of living is a bit lower due to the usual culprits (NIMBY, poor govt leadership, New England conservatism, etc) and just plainly the…

I would point out that there are many cheap places within the greater Boston area. I pay 1,800 for a three bedroom in Somerville. It's only a 10 minute walk from a redline station that will get you anywhere in the city quite fast. You are totally right about the actual quality of the places available though. Anything cheap will be 50-150 years old.

How much do you pay for temp control at your place though? In Providence I moved out of a 120 year old two-bedroom flat that cost me upwards of $300/mo to heat in the winter and never got above 68.

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

#54

Post by dougb »

mcone wrote: post #21

Pittsburgh. Housing prices are ~20% below the national average and we have a growing technology sector with CMU and offices for Google, Apple, and Uber employees. Some startups here, like Duolingo. This is technically the rust belt, but you can still find "big city" amenities with a small town feel.

I second Pittsburgh. I moved from Cambridge to Pittsburgh 10 years ago after my first child was born. I have had no trouble finding interesting projects to work on at decent pay. I live in a great neighborhood (Point Breeze) and my 3 kids go to a good school.

Cambridge was great when I was single, but after I got married and had a kid, it didn't look that great. Once I started looking for a place to raise a family, the only affordable options had killer commutes. Pittsburgh is great for families. I highly recommend it.

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

#55

Post by [deleted] »

seancoleman wrote: post #27

Phoenix is often not included when discussing tech cities, and I think it's a shame. I've lived here my entire life and have seen the startup and tech scenes evolve and mature having started 2 companies here. Just in the past few years, the number of quality startups and investments have soared and I believe we're at the inflection point that will make Phoenix equitable to SV. We have a low cost of living, affordable…

[deleted]

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

#56

Post by sf_rob »

HelloMcFly wrote: post #52

Well, I'll give a plug for a different city: Atlanta. My wife and I moved from Atlanta to Seattle a few years back, and while we love the PNW we're definitely looking forward to moving back this summer. Seattle is wonderful, but the traffic has gotten noticeably worse since we've been here, and housing just never worked for us. Atlanta has a lot of opportunity, including in the tech space. It's no Seattle or SF, obvi…

As a fellow former Atlantan, I'm going to disagree. Atlanta has a lot of cool stuff going on, but I find the food, drink, scenery, and to a lesser extent the people better in Seattle/Portland/SF.

Now Atlanta is a good city and the pay/cost of living is very good. There's a pretty solid tech scene, but not a great startup environment IMO.

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

#57

Post by eclipxe »

halpme wrote: post #41
spillihp wrote: post #8

Want to put in a quick plug for Sacramento. Great quality of life here, generally great weather (sometimes a little hot in summer, but sunny most of the year), affordable housing with rents between $500 and $1,000 (and affordable to buy a house - still good places available for under $300k), nice neighborhoods, great amenities, bars, restaurants, all that. Good access to awesome outdoors. And really easy to get to th…

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 for me to make friends.

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

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

#58

Post by thesusanmarie »

seancoleman wrote: post #27

Phoenix is often not included when discussing tech cities, and I think it's a shame. I've lived here my entire life and have seen the startup and tech scenes evolve and mature having started 2 companies here. Just in the past few years, the number of quality startups and investments have soared and I believe we're at the inflection point that will make Phoenix equitable to SV. We have a low cost of living, affordable…

Agreed - for being the 6th largest city in the nation, Phoenix and the surrounding metro area ("the valley") is often overlooked and people are very pleasantly surprised when they actually experience it in person.

Our cost of living is extremely attractive and the quality of life is amazing. The geographic diversity is incredible - you can drive two hours north to ski, there are several large natural lakes just outside the metro area, and the hiking is amazing. I work in a high-rise downtown and can be hiking Camelback Mountain or the Phoenix Mountain Preserve in 10 minutes. The downtown areas in Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale have great restaurant and nightlife scenes all with slightly different styles.

The startup ecosystem here is growing rapidly and is known specifically for its inclusiveness. There are many resources for entrepreneurs, including the country's second largest business plan competition ($3 million in grants awarded 2x per year) and a pitch competition that now awards $300,000 per year to the top four finalists. Additional info available here: http://www.azcommerce.com/start-up

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

#59

Post by brobinson »

cbanek wrote: post #9

I just moved out of California to Las Vegas because of the housing prices. Las Vegas cost of living is easily half that of LA/SF, and there's no income taxes. This can especially be a boon if you're leaving a company where you're exercising ISO options (you can exercise once you move to Nevada, and not pay CA AMT tax). I wouldn't say there's a lot of tech jobs, but there are some, and if you're working remote, it's a…

Las Vegas is awesome. I prefer Henderson, though. (10 miles southeast of Vegas)

I would love to live there again if I could find a decent remote job! Can't wait to leave SF again...

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

#60

Post by bcheung »

cbanek wrote: post #9

I just moved out of California to Las Vegas because of the housing prices. Las Vegas cost of living is easily half that of LA/SF, and there's no income taxes. This can especially be a boon if you're leaving a company where you're exercising ISO options (you can exercise once you move to Nevada, and not pay CA AMT tax). I wouldn't say there's a lot of tech jobs, but there are some, and if you're working remote, it's a…

I was exploring that option at one point but couldn't find any tech work out there and didn't find any companies with 100% remote options that I liked. The weather seems less than idea as well (hot summers, cold winters). How are you liking it? Would you still recommend it?
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