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Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

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Re: Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

#71

Post by libria »

muninn_ wrote: post #25
libria wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Stay away from Atlanta if you value quality of living Can you elaborate on Atlanta's poor QoL?

Sure do you have something specific you'd like me to touch on or just in general?

I've lived in Atlanta and don't much care for it, but I'd think the other cities you mentioned would have similar drawbacks. What makes Pittsburgh/Columbus much better?

edit: pros-> good Cost of Living to salary ratio, 4 seasons. cons-> humidity, traffic, public education system, lack of attractions (you can only go to the aquarium so many times).

Re: Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

#72

Post by IndianAstronaut »

pault wrote: post #64
Tempest1981 wrote: post #9

Places to consider (from the article): - Richmond, Virginia - Eugene, Oregon - Manchester, New Hampshire - Huntsville, Alabama

I've been looking at rents in Austin, and it's cheaper than I expected. I'm surprised it doesn't get more attention.

North of 183 and apartments are less than 1000.

Re: Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

#73

Post by edblarney »

GreenPlastic wrote: post #69
edblarney wrote: post #61

Toronto + Kitchener/Waterloo, and Vancouver are sizeable. Toronto is big. Much bigger than many places mentioned. A secret Canadian bit: healthcare is pretty good, and 'free' - at least it's not out of pocket, and covered by taxes which are on par with Cali/NY. That makes a difference in the very early stages, I think. There is a lot of technical talent in Canada, just not great marketing and business leadership, and…

1. Canadian salaries are a joke. Senior software engineers make 85k in Vancouver and housing is as expensive as SF. 2. Canadians think their health care system is pretty good because they haven't experienced a good private system. My wife is from Vancouver and thought that until she tried the American system (assuming you're insured). Her friends have long waits for OBs and almost no family doctor is taking new patie…

I've lived in the US for a long time, as well as Canada, and Europe.

Canadian system is 'pretty good' for 95% of needs, and it covers everyone. It's also less than 1/2 the cost of the US system.

I understand that there are long waits for some things - and this is a drawback party of the system, but also just crappy service - and definitely not good.

And yes - you don't get a doctor anymore. It's a problem - but you can go to any clinic (and you can chose, some are better than others) and get service on the spot. You just don't get to see the same person over and over. I agree this is not good.

I don't like 'hard single payer' as we have here in Canada - but some of the advantages cannot be overlooked.

The moment you don't have coverage, or the coverage won't cover you for some things ... then you understand. Most people in the US know of a serious 'health care horror story', whereas in Canada, it's not so bad. You have to wait longer. But for things that require immediate attention, you usually get it.

Again - not saying it's better, just that there are some advantages.

Re: Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

#74

Post by edblarney »

GreenPlastic wrote: post #69
edblarney wrote: post #61

Toronto + Kitchener/Waterloo, and Vancouver are sizeable. Toronto is big. Much bigger than many places mentioned. A secret Canadian bit: healthcare is pretty good, and 'free' - at least it's not out of pocket, and covered by taxes which are on par with Cali/NY. That makes a difference in the very early stages, I think. There is a lot of technical talent in Canada, just not great marketing and business leadership, and…

1. Canadian salaries are a joke. Senior software engineers make 85k in Vancouver and housing is as expensive as SF. 2. Canadians think their health care system is pretty good because they haven't experienced a good private system. My wife is from Vancouver and thought that until she tried the American system (assuming you're insured). Her friends have long waits for OBs and almost no family doctor is taking new patie…

"Canadian salaries are a joke"

Yup.

It's due to a lot of reasons, but that will change if the talent is there.

It's particularly pernicious in Van where the cost of living is crazy, less so in Toronto.

I live in Montreal - and my flat would be 6500/month in San Francisco. It's really nice. The culture is great. Cost of living is peanuts. There are smart people, and 10x more cute girls than SF.

If you grew up in the cold and can hack that, then it's in many ways a great choice.

Also if you have a hookup at a good company because they are rare here.

Nobody can compete with SF for talent. Nobody - I would not imply that.

But depending on what you are doing - TO, Van and Montreal can make good choices. Again - very situationally dependent.

Re: Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

#75

Post by deskamess »

gyc wrote: post #48
muninn_ wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stay away from Atlanta if you value quality of living. Look to places like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Columbus, etc.... big healthcare areas without being the biggest sprawl on the planet or having insane cost of living.

I moved from SF to Minneapolis ~5 years ago. If you can survive the cold winters here, the area truly offers a great quality of life and way more amenities than you might expect for a very reasonable cost of living.

How cold and long are your winters? Some of the Canadian winters go on for what seems like 5 months. I can handle 3 months...

Re: Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

#76

Post by CN7R »

fnbr wrote: post #32
nugget wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity how do you run up >400k from med school? That number seems higher than what I usually read about.

NYU estimates med school costs at $80k per year [1], for four years. Toss in $80k for undergrad and bam, you're at $400k. [1] http://www.med.nyu.edu/school/admissions/fees-and-financial-...

I wouldn't use NYU as the best example, as its tuition is ridiculously high compared to other medical schools / universities. Look at its access index: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/09/17/upshot/top-col...

Re: Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

#77

Post by deskamess »

gtaylor wrote: post #26
libria wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Stay away from Atlanta if you value quality of living Can you elaborate on Atlanta's poor QoL?

Dirty, terrible traffic, was decimated by the recession and not quite back. There are very nice areas like Buckhead, and really rough areas like Lithia Springs. You'll need a car to get anywhere and you're going to spend a lot of time in it. Especially if you live in one of the popular suburbs like Marietta or even Douglasville. Source: lived in the area a few times.

But surely places like Alpharetta, Roswell, and Cumming are not decimated. I found them nice places to live although housing was getting into the mid 300K for a 4br/2ba. I found access to downtown easy and the airport was one of the best (in terms of global connectivity).

Re: Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

#78

Post by dtnewman »

warlox wrote: post #15
quantumhobbit wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Richmond too. It is a great city. Very affordable, youngish, a fun mid sized city. We probably have more microbreweries per capita than anywhere else in the US. But I do feel like we are flyover country as far as tech is concerned. Compared to northern VA we might as well not exist. However I do think it is a good place for startups if only because there is an outsized amount of talented engineers stuck in cor…

You can't hire the people working for megacorps if your company is in Virginia because they are more likely than not bound by noncompete clauses. Only California throws them out as a matter of public policy, which is one of the main reasons why Silicon Valley is where it's at.

I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure this is only true if you are looking to compete with the megacorps, which probably isn't the case if you are a startup. It's called a non-compete, because it means you can't work for a competitor. Having to do with tech doesn't make you a competitor.

Re: Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

#79

Post by holierthenthou »

deskamess wrote: post #75
gyc wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved from SF to Minneapolis ~5 years ago. If you can survive the cold winters here, the area truly offers a great quality of life and way more amenities than you might expect for a very reasonable cost of living.

How cold and long are your winters? Some of the Canadian winters go on for what seems like 5 months. I can handle 3 months...

Hello former Minnesotan here. I miss the true four seasons there: June, July, August and Winter.

Re: Tech Jobs, Cheaper Housing: The New Silicon Cities

#80

Post by dibstern »

tyre wrote: post #44

There are many reasons YC requires you to be in Mountain View during the program. When you finish YC, every partner will tell you to stay in the Bay Area. As CEO of a post-seed company, I had to start building relationships with Series-A investors. They are all here, so I could meet them in person without much travel, or they could come visit our office. That matters. When our investors hold events, they are here. I…

Doesn't being in SV mean the top talent is all hoovered up by Google, FB, etc? What about huge rent costs?

Would love to be able to start a startup in Melb, Australia, because it's the most livable city in the world, but the tech scene here in comparison to SV is like living in the Stone Age. Not sure if I'd be better off moving to SV - but interestingly, I met a top CTO/CEO who had moved his company to the Valley and advised against it, because apparently it's very cliquey and it's hard to break into really well established circles, especially as an Aussie, for some reason. I'll definitely get him another coffee at some point in the future to dig into this more.

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