6 ms·

As long as big tech makes big bucks in the Bay Area, the money's gonna want their labor within arm's reach. Remote work has its place but for most companies you

As long as big tech makes big bucks in the Bay Area, the money's gonna want their labor within arm's reach. Remote work has its place but for most companies you can't have your cake and eat it - remote is either all or nothing. That leaves local employment. Paying a quarter million to a developer seems like a lot, until you compare the efficiency gains of keeping everyone in one place. I think the real issue with Silicon Valley's future isn't financial, it's cultural. I believe it is rapidly becoming a second Wall Street: the place where young professionals tough it out for a few years until their bank accounts and resumes are good enough for a more fulfilling job in a cheaper and more preferable location without the cost and the crazy. The Bay Area is a great place to make money, but is it truly a great place to live? Strip away the nice weather and trendy restaurants, and it's hard not to notice how much of the communitarian counterculture that peaked in the 60s has been, like so much of the world today, eaten by software.

rconti 11y ago
I think it's a fantastic place to live, albeit expensive. I don't go to trendy restaurants, but there's a lot to do in the area. Lots of hiking/running/mountain biking opportunities. Don't undervalue the nice weather; it's a lot less enjoyable to do most outdoor activities when the weather is crappy or unpredictable. Easy access to the ocean. Relatively easy access to the mountains, assuming they get snow again. I'm a motorsport enthusiast; lots of great racetracks and mountain roads for cars+motorcycles.
- rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
  While I don't disagree with you, I do want to make clear for the sake of argument that those mountains were there before the microchip, and they'll remain for a very long time. My point is that a big money monoculture is a great way to homogenize and wash out a cosmopolitan culture. The homeless might remain, but the hippies are long gone...
  - Decade 11y ago
    The hippies are starting to die of old age, anyway. San Francisco is a city defined by successive invasions.
timr 11y ago
"The Bay Area is a great place to make money, but is it truly a great place to live?" SF now costs about the same money as living in Manhattan. I suppose you might value the "theoretically outdoorsy tech-bro/bro-burner" lifestyle here enough to pay New York City prices for it, but you're definitely getting ripped off in terms of everything else: from food to culture to social life, New York is a dramatically better scene. Like 10x better. It isn't even close. And if you truly value mountains and great weather and whatnot, there are lots of cheaper places to get that. Somewhat related: the little statistical summary they slipped into the end of the article noted that 60% of the caltrain riders are men, and 50% are single. Hope you like celibacy, young tech dude! Keep livin' the dream!
- zachrose 11y ago
  "Single" probably means "not married," which doesn't mean celibacy (unless that's your thing).
- browseatwork 11y ago
  It's terrible here, stay away :) Proximity to the outdoors are just one reason people like living here (even if they aren't bros or bro-burners whatever that is). The food's endlessly great and people generally seem content with the culture/social life. That doesn't mean Manhattan is bad- it has a lot of great things. Different strokes for different folks. If you feel your SF dollar is worth 10 Manhattan dollars, act accordingly. It's worth noting the software jobs pay less well there, and there's a smaller community which has it's plusses and minuses (like being at a large school vs a small school). Not all men are into women, and not all single people are celibate. Enjoy the snow :)
  - timr 11y ago
    I've lived here for nearly a decade. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone at these prices. It's not that one SF dollar is worth ten Manhattan dollars, but rather that people are paying Lamborghini prices for a Mini Cooper and congratulating themselves on the purchase. The bay area is definitely a world leader in smugness and self-satisfaction. The restaurant selection in SF is perhaps on par with the east village, but more expensive and provincial. It sure is "endlessly great" not to be able to get decent food after 10pm! Also, you're wrong about salaries.

rconti 11y ago

I think it's a fantastic place to live, albeit expensive. I don't go to trendy restaurants, but there's a lot to do in the area. Lots of hiking/running/mountain biking opportunities. Don't undervalue the nice weather; it's a lot less enjoyable to do most outdoor activities when the weather is crappy or unpredictable. Easy access to the ocean. Relatively easy access to the mountains, assuming they get snow again. I'm a motorsport enthusiast; lots of great racetracks and mountain roads for cars+motorcycles.

rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
While I don't disagree with you, I do want to make clear for the sake of argument that those mountains were there before the microchip, and they'll remain for a very long time. My point is that a big money monoculture is a great way to homogenize and wash out a cosmopolitan culture. The homeless might remain, but the hippies are long gone...
- Decade 11y ago
  The hippies are starting to die of old age, anyway. San Francisco is a city defined by successive invasions.

timr 11y ago

"The Bay Area is a great place to make money, but is it truly a great place to live?" SF now costs about the same money as living in Manhattan. I suppose you might value the "theoretically outdoorsy tech-bro/bro-burner" lifestyle here enough to pay New York City prices for it, but you're definitely getting ripped off in terms of everything else: from food to culture to social life, New York is a dramatically better scene. Like 10x better. It isn't even close. And if you truly value mountains and great weather and whatnot, there are lots of cheaper places to get that. Somewhat related: the little statistical summary they slipped into the end of the article noted that 60% of the caltrain riders are men, and 50% are single. Hope you like celibacy, young tech dude! Keep livin' the dream!

zachrose 11y ago
"Single" probably means "not married," which doesn't mean celibacy (unless that's your thing).
browseatwork 11y ago
It's terrible here, stay away :) Proximity to the outdoors are just one reason people like living here (even if they aren't bros or bro-burners whatever that is). The food's endlessly great and people generally seem content with the culture/social life. That doesn't mean Manhattan is bad- it has a lot of great things. Different strokes for different folks. If you feel your SF dollar is worth 10 Manhattan dollars, act accordingly. It's worth noting the software jobs pay less well there, and there's a smaller community which has it's plusses and minuses (like being at a large school vs a small school). Not all men are into women, and not all single people are celibate. Enjoy the snow :)
- timr 11y ago
  I've lived here for nearly a decade. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone at these prices. It's not that one SF dollar is worth ten Manhattan dollars, but rather that people are paying Lamborghini prices for a Mini Cooper and congratulating themselves on the purchase. The bay area is definitely a world leader in smugness and self-satisfaction. The restaurant selection in SF is perhaps on par with the east village, but more expensive and provincial. It sure is "endlessly great" not to be able to get decent food after 10pm! Also, you're wrong about salaries.