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I haven't lived in the US for almost five years now but if I did come back I'd pick a second-tier city. There's enough remote work now that you can pick any cit

I haven't lived in the US for almost five years now but if I did come back I'd pick a second-tier city. There's enough remote work now that you can pick any city you want in a US timezone and still make a decent living. I don't see why everyone feels obliged to squeeze into one of three or four insanely overpriced coastal cities in 2015.

seathrowa 11y ago
For a while, Seattle has been a second tier tech city. Some of us wish it would stay that way (affordable). While rents are on the rise, it's still a far cry from being as ridiculously expensive as SF.
geebee 11y ago
It's hard to believe this given the current state of the tech industry, but until fairly recently, San Francisco was a second tier city. What I mean by this is that San Francisco wasn't the "alpha" city for any particular career path. If you wanted to pursue law, finance, publishing, entertainment, and so forth, the alpha cities were New York, Los Angeles, and maybe Chicago. Even tech was mainly a south bay thing, and it was smaller. That's not to say you couldn't pursue a fine career in these fields SF, and SF probably was one of the better 2nd tier cities from a career perspective (the only other one I can think of is Boston, similar in that it has top tier universities that do bring top academics to town), but it wasn't until tech hit that SF became a place you would live for your career, even though otherwise you didn't like it here. This has changed things a lot. People have always come to SF looking for something new, but in the past, really as recently as maybe the late 90s (just before the first dot com boom), people really only came to SF because they wished to some extent to live in SF. I also think this may be what is behind many of the recent "10 things I hate about SF" posts, often comparing it unfavorably to New York or other "alpha-career" cities. In the past, whoever wrote these would simply be living in New York or another alpha city. It has been a very deep cultural change for SF to suddenly find itself an "alpha" city for careers in a a substantial segment of the economy - in other words, people who moved to SF specifically for career advancement, but would otherwise prefer to be living somewhere else.
- cageface 11y ago
  I lived in SF for most of the years between 1992 and 2010, so I saw that a lot of that change first hand. When I first moved there it was a funky, artsy town with a lot of interesting people doing creative things. I was there earlier this year and it now feels like a yuppie playground. I don't see this trend reversing any time soon though so instead of lamenting this change I'll just live somewhere else if I decide to live in the States again.
  - geebee 11y ago
    One of the sad things here is that tech was one of those interesting, creative things people in SF were doing. It fit right in with the funky, artsy town you're describing. Ironically, tech was actually one of the early casualties of the tech boom. It's still out there, though, here and there.
brobinson 11y ago
Have you written any blog posts/comments about your remote working situation and what led up to it? I'd be interested in hearing your perspective as I've recently faced a lot of difficulty getting companies to even reply to my applications. I'm curious if there's any tips or advice you have. I really, really do not want to move back to SF to get a good job.
- cageface 11y ago
  I think it's like a normal job search really. Be persistent, network, build up your portfolio, and don't be too picky about the gigs you take in the beginning. It took me a few years to get going but now I have more incoming work than I can handle.
  - brobinson 11y ago
    Thanks for the response!

seathrowa 11y ago

For a while, Seattle has been a second tier tech city. Some of us wish it would stay that way (affordable). While rents are on the rise, it's still a far cry from being as ridiculously expensive as SF.

geebee 11y ago

It's hard to believe this given the current state of the tech industry, but until fairly recently, San Francisco was a second tier city. What I mean by this is that San Francisco wasn't the "alpha" city for any particular career path. If you wanted to pursue law, finance, publishing, entertainment, and so forth, the alpha cities were New York, Los Angeles, and maybe Chicago. Even tech was mainly a south bay thing, and it was smaller. That's not to say you couldn't pursue a fine career in these fields SF, and SF probably was one of the better 2nd tier cities from a career perspective (the only other one I can think of is Boston, similar in that it has top tier universities that do bring top academics to town), but it wasn't until tech hit that SF became a place you would live for your career, even though otherwise you didn't like it here. This has changed things a lot. People have always come to SF looking for something new, but in the past, really as recently as maybe the late 90s (just before the first dot com boom), people really only came to SF because they wished to some extent to live in SF. I also think this may be what is behind many of the recent "10 things I hate about SF" posts, often comparing it unfavorably to New York or other "alpha-career" cities. In the past, whoever wrote these would simply be living in New York or another alpha city. It has been a very deep cultural change for SF to suddenly find itself an "alpha" city for careers in a a substantial segment of the economy - in other words, people who moved to SF specifically for career advancement, but would otherwise prefer to be living somewhere else.

cageface 11y ago
I lived in SF for most of the years between 1992 and 2010, so I saw that a lot of that change first hand. When I first moved there it was a funky, artsy town with a lot of interesting people doing creative things. I was there earlier this year and it now feels like a yuppie playground. I don't see this trend reversing any time soon though so instead of lamenting this change I'll just live somewhere else if I decide to live in the States again.
- geebee 11y ago
  One of the sad things here is that tech was one of those interesting, creative things people in SF were doing. It fit right in with the funky, artsy town you're describing. Ironically, tech was actually one of the early casualties of the tech boom. It's still out there, though, here and there.

brobinson 11y ago

Have you written any blog posts/comments about your remote working situation and what led up to it? I'd be interested in hearing your perspective as I've recently faced a lot of difficulty getting companies to even reply to my applications. I'm curious if there's any tips or advice you have. I really, really do not want to move back to SF to get a good job.

cageface 11y ago
I think it's like a normal job search really. Be persistent, network, build up your portfolio, and don't be too picky about the gigs you take in the beginning. It took me a few years to get going but now I have more incoming work than I can handle.
- brobinson 11y ago
  Thanks for the response!