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San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

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Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#521

Post by simonebrunozzi »

whack wrote: post #111

It's hard to overstate the impact this is going to have on San Francisco, long-term. As Technology becomes the most important industry in America, a well-governed San Francisco could have positioned itself as the next NYC. The hub where all of tech gathers, the same way all of finance gathered in Wall St. Replace the 70 year old 2-storey homes with Manhattan style apartment buildings, and rent in San Francisco would…

It's not enough to build housing. You also need infrastructure (roads, pipes, electricity, etc). You can't scale an already-built city like SF, also very prone to earthquakes, at this speed. Your proposal has no realistic basis.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#522

Post by vinceguidry »

ryandrake wrote: post #375
zavi wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are some smart dating strategies for a straight white male new grad in the Bay Area with 6 digits of disposable income? Dating market seems extremely competitive here.

> What are some smart dating strategies for a straight white male new grad in the Bay Area with 6 digits of disposable income? Spend the money on a plane ticket to somewhere with women?

I wouldn't recommend this approach. A relationship is built out of time spent physically present with a person, trying to hack this by building a relationship with less time spent before marriage, or by substituting time spent in presence that is not physical, makes for a weak bond that will likely break after a few years of marriage, particularly if one or both of you have poor social skills.

I emphasize social skills because, like Vitamin D, the hacker lifestyle leads us to be deficient in such a vital resource. We should be supplementing our lifestyle with lots of activities that force us to interact with other people in ways we're not used to. I've been going to the same bar for the last 8 years. It's often painful, I still don't really fit in, but it's been crucial for helping me develop my sense of self.

Another good place to frequent is coffee shops, but good neighborhood coffee shops are quite rare. Starbucks doesn't really do the trick, something about the atmosphere discourages the kinds of spontaneous casual community that you really need to develop social skills.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#523

Post by cubano »

nefitty wrote: post #455
Falcon9 wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheap housing, cheap decent food options, access to all-you-can-eat-entertainment, relative proximity to SoCal/beach all factor in as well. But the Summer is miserable (IMO) and the people here just don't give a crap about life, so it can be pretty draining to live in Vegas as well.

I'm in Vegas. A lot of people here are passionate about their community and their personal projects. I'm not sure what you're talking abou the "not giving a crap about life." Just browse our Meetup page: http://www.meetup.com/cities/us/nv/las_vegas/ If you missed those kinds of people then maybe there was a problem with the way you approached Vegas.

Not maybe.

In my case, definitely.

Thanks for the clarification.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#524

Post by jseliger »

ryandrake wrote: post #375
zavi wrote: post #369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are some smart dating strategies for a straight white male new grad in the Bay Area with 6 digits of disposable income? Dating market seems extremely competitive here.

> What are some smart dating strategies for a straight white male new grad in the Bay Area with 6 digits of disposable income? Spend the money on a plane ticket to somewhere with women?

This is a funny comment, but it's also better advice than it might seem, for reasons Jon Birger describes in Date-onomics: http://jakeseliger.com/2015/09/19/briefly-noted-date-onomics...

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#525

Post by jseliger »

traskjd wrote: post #465

We've just setup a new office for our company ( https://raygun.com ) in Seattle. We have a small office in SF, but going to building a much larger one up here (we're HQ'd in Wellington, New Zealand) Seattle locals complain a little about all the cranes across the skyline. I see it another way - Seattle is absolutely going to eat SF's lunch if it doesn't change. You already have Microsoft, Boeing, etc here. Google, Fa…

Seattle locals complain a little about all the cranes across the skyline. I see it another way - Seattle is absolutely going to eat SF's lunch if it doesn't change.

One underestimated part of CA's success, though, is the fact that non-competes are illegal: http://asr.sagepub.com/content/76/5/695.short. If Washington State banned non-competes, it would have a really tremendous long-term advantage.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#526

Post by eip »

bogomipz wrote: post #380
chrischen wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely agree with you. The whole point of software and the internet is to destroy boundaries and borders, especially physical ones. Companies neither have to have physical offices nor do they have to be located in the Bay Area. And unfortunately culture dictates that an office is always necessary and that you need to locate your tech company in the Bay Area for dubious reasons like fundraising (which should only…

Ha, yeah this makes me laugh. Startups that run completely on virtual machines in the cloud and their mission is to disrupt industry X but all of this can only be done from an open plan office space in SOMA.

Beautiful SOMA.. where your ultra expensive, tiny office comes complete with a group of crack heads sleeping in tents in front of your office doors. If you need some light pre-lunch entertainment watch them drunkenly shout profanities at each other, at you, or sometimes at the sky.

Even the crack heads in SF are high class though. Where else do you see homeless people sleeping in $250 REI tents?

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#527

Post by eip »

zavi wrote: post #369
vinceguidry wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're not already married, you should be using it to date. College is hands-down the best place to find a significant other. Once you've graduated, the social life you took for granted quickly fades away and finding people to spend time with and then actually spending time with them becomes vastly more difficult. If you're a cisgendered male, it can be absolutely brutal. Cisgendered female, much less so but still…

What are some smart dating strategies for a straight white male new grad in the Bay Area with 6 digits of disposable income? Dating market seems extremely competitive here.

As long as it is obvious to females that you are straight then dating in the bay is easy. Easier than a lot of other places.

Hit the gym and go to shows.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#528

Post by fsociety »

derefr wrote: post #284
jimminy wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that everything closed so early blew me away, when I moved there. Compared to the middle of nowhere WV it made zero sense. Even the grocery stores closed by midnight in SF. In WV, you can find food at most places until 12-1am 7 days a week. And the major local grocery is a Walmart, which is open 24 hours. Last Easter I had no clue nothing would be open, and didn't prepare for that. So I just had some crap pi…

Everything closing at 9PM is pretty much par for the course here in Vancouver, another city with the skyrocketing cost-of-living thing going on. I wonder if there's a correlation. Maybe everyone is rich enough to pay delivery services or maids or something to get their shopping done while they're at work, so there's no demand for 24-hour businesses? Then again, another thing with Vancouver (that I think I've heard sa…

Err, well, bars which hold a primary liquor license in Vancouver can operate until 2 AM. Many do, but after 1:00 AM a majority of the night life leaves and you're left with a couple of awesome regulars, someone passed out on a table who you have to help get home, and staff from other restaurants which close earlier.

All the great things that Vancouver has to offer happen in the day or afternoon. The only thing I'm sad about is the Jazz Cellar closing down. RIP Ross Taggart.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#529

Post by umbs »

Another angle to this is cost of sending kids to schools (my kids are elementary school age). I support public schools and frequently volunteer to teach stress management programs in public high schools. However, few years back, to cut down on housing costs, I purchased a condo in "very low API score school district". When my kids were ready for school, we hesitated to send to public school and choose private school. Now, my wife and I are shocked with the costs and have been inconclusive on private school vs owning a house in "good" school district.

I learnt from others that in other parts of US, we get good schools and decent house at reasonable price in Seattle/Portland/Austin etc. But uprooting entire family looks extreme at this point and we don't have stomach to do it.

Curious, as to what others in similar situation are doing.

Re: San Francisco Tech Firms See Workers Flee from $4,500 Rents

#530

Post by b3b0p »

enraged_camel wrote: post #487
b3b0p wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where did you move to in Austin with 1,100 square foot for $1,150 / month? I am in downtown Austin. My rent is just shy of double that and I only have a 500 or so square foot apartment. I have a hard time believing you moved to something comparable to SOMA. I'm going to guess you live either more North or South of downtown and have to commute if you work or want to get downtown. Which I think many would agree is not…

Not the OP, but I live less than four miles north of downtown Austin and my rent is $800. I have two roommates and we have a 2000 square feet backyard. I wake up every morning to bird's chirping outside my window. It's amazing.

4 miles North is definitely not downtown Austin and to me might as well be in Oklahoma, haha. I enjoy being directly in the middle of everything, not having to commute, and no car. I'd much rather pay double, live in a smaller area, in the middle of everything. The last thing I want is a yard, again. Different strokes or something like that, right?
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