4 ms·

As a happy engineer in LA, I'm pretty sad to see we're not in the top 8. I just wanted it say that the tech industry here is pretty great and you should all che

by kin 11y ago

As a happy engineer in LA, I'm pretty sad to see we're not in the top 8. I just wanted it say that the tech industry here is pretty great and you should all check it out. Actually, talent is pretty hard to come by down here and plenty of companies are hiring.

donretag 11y ago
I moved to LA last year and I love it. Great salary, while having a much lower rent compared to SF/NY.
- leetNightshade 11y ago
  Not the best comparison points when you're comparing the most expensive places to live in the United States. L.A. is still kind of expensive compared to everywhere else besides those mentioned. My gf and I are considering sharing an apartment with another couple just to be able to make a dent in our student debt and savings. I can't imagine owning a house or a condo. I also don't foresee being able to afford having kids for some time. Hell, I'm holding off on getting a dog because of high rent.
  - striking 11y ago
    Is that still true compared to the (as above) higher salary in LA compared to the other places?
    - leetNightshade 11y ago
      With cost of living going up, minimum wage going up, you think business would think to bump their base wages up to account for cost of living. But not everyone does, and some that do don't do it by much. One example is my gf: set production assistant wages have not gone up with cost of living in the area, at least for the companies she works for. Set production assistants are freelance, non-reliable work with sometimes terrible hours. You think they'd make okay money. But even in L.A. where the industry is at it's biggest, they're usually shortchanged. Another example: A friend of mine accepted a position as a mid-level gameplay programmer at a place that is choosing to pay them hourly so they can make them work overtime without having to pay $100k or more, because of CA law. Yet another business strong-arming someone who wasn't in a good position to negotiate due to circumstances. Hopefully that friend can work their way into a senior level position soon, but even then not every place pays senior level as well as they should. Industry can be very stingy, focusing on the short-term business instead of long term employees.
  - jiaweihli 11y ago
    Agree, an apartment I used to rent in LA has appreciated by 50% in 4 years. The housing crisis isn't as full-blown as in SF, but it's quickly getting there.
mrmuji 11y ago
It's not really clear from the graphic but in the paragraph above, it says it's searches of places outside California. I agree that LA is a pretty good place right now. Industry is good, and you get a lot of the cultural benefits of a big city without the ridiculous costs of the Bay Area or NYC.
SilasX 11y ago
What about the traffic and commute?
- kvcrawford 11y ago
  I got a job in Santa Monica, while living in Long Beach. Commute was painful at 45-60 min, and I only had to be at work by 10:30. I moved into a 1BR for $1500 in nearby Culver City, which cut my commute down to 20-25 minutes. Not so bad. I'm across the street from a little downtown area with bars, restaurants, a movie theatre, 3 yoga studios, and a grocery store. Fairly walkable. The job market is pretty hot. The problem in my job search was lining up interviews to get as many offers as possible at once so I could have my pick of the litter. And even nicer weather than the Bay Area to boot.
- prostoalex 11y ago
  LA is actively building its public transportation https://www.metro.net/projects/ https://www.metro.net/projects/ The downtown / Santa Monica Expo line extension is opening in March, the Gold line is opening a bunch of new stations in April, extending it almost all the way to Claremont, and they have an LAX metro line they're building to prevent the traffic clusterf* that LAX has become.

by kin 11y ago

donretag 11y ago

I moved to LA last year and I love it. Great salary, while having a much lower rent compared to SF/NY.

leetNightshade 11y ago
Not the best comparison points when you're comparing the most expensive places to live in the United States. L.A. is still kind of expensive compared to everywhere else besides those mentioned. My gf and I are considering sharing an apartment with another couple just to be able to make a dent in our student debt and savings. I can't imagine owning a house or a condo. I also don't foresee being able to afford having kids for some time. Hell, I'm holding off on getting a dog because of high rent.
- striking 11y ago
  Is that still true compared to the (as above) higher salary in LA compared to the other places?
  - leetNightshade 11y ago
    With cost of living going up, minimum wage going up, you think business would think to bump their base wages up to account for cost of living. But not everyone does, and some that do don't do it by much. One example is my gf: set production assistant wages have not gone up with cost of living in the area, at least for the companies she works for. Set production assistants are freelance, non-reliable work with sometimes terrible hours. You think they'd make okay money. But even in L.A. where the industry is at it's biggest, they're usually shortchanged. Another example: A friend of mine accepted a position as a mid-level gameplay programmer at a place that is choosing to pay them hourly so they can make them work overtime without having to pay $100k or more, because of CA law. Yet another business strong-arming someone who wasn't in a good position to negotiate due to circumstances. Hopefully that friend can work their way into a senior level position soon, but even then not every place pays senior level as well as they should. Industry can be very stingy, focusing on the short-term business instead of long term employees.
- jiaweihli 11y ago
  Agree, an apartment I used to rent in LA has appreciated by 50% in 4 years. The housing crisis isn't as full-blown as in SF, but it's quickly getting there.

mrmuji 11y ago

It's not really clear from the graphic but in the paragraph above, it says it's searches of places outside California. I agree that LA is a pretty good place right now. Industry is good, and you get a lot of the cultural benefits of a big city without the ridiculous costs of the Bay Area or NYC.

SilasX 11y ago

What about the traffic and commute?

kvcrawford 11y ago
I got a job in Santa Monica, while living in Long Beach. Commute was painful at 45-60 min, and I only had to be at work by 10:30. I moved into a 1BR for $1500 in nearby Culver City, which cut my commute down to 20-25 minutes. Not so bad. I'm across the street from a little downtown area with bars, restaurants, a movie theatre, 3 yoga studios, and a grocery store. Fairly walkable. The job market is pretty hot. The problem in my job search was lining up interviews to get as many offers as possible at once so I could have my pick of the litter. And even nicer weather than the Bay Area to boot.
prostoalex 11y ago
LA is actively building its public transportation https://www.metro.net/projects/ https://www.metro.net/projects/ The downtown / Santa Monica Expo line extension is opening in March, the Gold line is opening a bunch of new stations in April, extending it almost all the way to Claremont, and they have an LAX metro line they're building to prevent the traffic clusterf* that LAX has become.