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In terms of major cities, San Francisco is among the best choices in terms of year-round weather. Snow, subzero temperatures, and associated clothing needs woul

In terms of major cities, San Francisco is among the best choices in terms of year-round weather. Snow, subzero temperatures, and associated clothing needs would definitely be much more problematic in your suggested cities.

lowglow 10y ago
Yeah, even sleeping through the winter down in Palo Alto was a little tough with a sleeping bag + comforter.
- ethanbond 10y ago
  Equivalently, being outside during the day in areas hotter than Palo Alto is ludicrously taxing in pretty much every way. The Bay is very kind to Homo sapiens, in terms of climate.
  - abalashov 10y ago
    [Atlanta native here] Tell me about it, and don't forget to mention the humidity--a factor 5x more important than temperature per se, in my eyes. If I had to be in the hot sun, I'd take 100F in Phoenix over even 70F in Atlanta _any_ day.
  - marincounty 10y ago
    It has some pretty severe microclimates. After a good rain, I have seen some pretty miserable homeless people. They are wet, and cold. They don't have the right camping equipment. In my little city, we lost three people this winter--that I know of. They died from hypothermia to pneumonia. I kinda knew one guy. He didn't like to tell people he was homeless. He was actually a former Programmer. He was instrumental in the developement of Word Star, but only got a wage, and a footnote in the program's history. When he did let his guard down, he would always say one thing over the years. "I just don't want to die on the streets, over a chest infection." I didn't see him for awhile. I thought he might have moved. I found out, one night, at Starbucks, he died on the streets in front of the police station, of a pneumonia. No service. Nothing. He was a only child. He's just gone. No drug use. No health problems prior to being homeless.
serge2k 10y ago
Except if you don't have 3k rents you might be able to just find a place to live. This is not "I've lost everything and am homeless with no way out" it's "I wanna build a startup so I'm going to go live in a van".
- sndean 10y ago
  This is a pretty important point. You can get a very small apartment in Austin, TX, for $500 (and many other non-SF cites). If you're able to, spending ~$16 a day versus living in a van makes a lot of sense. Completely different if you don't have that $16.
  - dasyatidprime 10y ago
    Except when you can't. Landlords very often just won't take you on at all if you don't show evidence of preëxisting stability. No proof of stable income? No housing—you can even offer to pay up-front or whatever, and they just won't bother dealing with you as a special case, because why would they deal with the special case when there's a dozen other safe, predictable, normal people in line behind you? Got an income, but can't prove it to be consistently enough? Congratulations, no housing for you. And thus begins the downward spiral.
    - sndean 10y ago
      Ah yeah, I forgot about this. I had to get my parents to co-sign on a lease... at 27, with a PhD, proof of employment, and "excellent" credit. It's pretty insane.
    - abalashov 10y ago
      Yep. I have bad personal credit (< 600) due to a cash-strapped entrepreneurial background and a strategic default, and it took over 10+ apartment tours before we found someone willing to rent to us--at any price, and with any amount of up-front deposit--once the credit check came back. I doubt most of the folk we dealt with would have taken us on even if I had offered to pay a full year's rent up front. It's just not worth the bother when there's a dual-income, no-kids couple with good credit next in line.

lowglow 10y ago

Yeah, even sleeping through the winter down in Palo Alto was a little tough with a sleeping bag + comforter.

ethanbond 10y ago
Equivalently, being outside during the day in areas hotter than Palo Alto is ludicrously taxing in pretty much every way. The Bay is very kind to Homo sapiens, in terms of climate.
- abalashov 10y ago
  [Atlanta native here] Tell me about it, and don't forget to mention the humidity--a factor 5x more important than temperature per se, in my eyes. If I had to be in the hot sun, I'd take 100F in Phoenix over even 70F in Atlanta _any_ day.
- marincounty 10y ago
  It has some pretty severe microclimates. After a good rain, I have seen some pretty miserable homeless people. They are wet, and cold. They don't have the right camping equipment. In my little city, we lost three people this winter--that I know of. They died from hypothermia to pneumonia. I kinda knew one guy. He didn't like to tell people he was homeless. He was actually a former Programmer. He was instrumental in the developement of Word Star, but only got a wage, and a footnote in the program's history. When he did let his guard down, he would always say one thing over the years. "I just don't want to die on the streets, over a chest infection." I didn't see him for awhile. I thought he might have moved. I found out, one night, at Starbucks, he died on the streets in front of the police station, of a pneumonia. No service. Nothing. He was a only child. He's just gone. No drug use. No health problems prior to being homeless.

serge2k 10y ago

Except if you don't have 3k rents you might be able to just find a place to live. This is not "I've lost everything and am homeless with no way out" it's "I wanna build a startup so I'm going to go live in a van".

sndean 10y ago
This is a pretty important point. You can get a very small apartment in Austin, TX, for $500 (and many other non-SF cites). If you're able to, spending ~$16 a day versus living in a van makes a lot of sense. Completely different if you don't have that $16.
- dasyatidprime 10y ago
  Except when you can't. Landlords very often just won't take you on at all if you don't show evidence of preëxisting stability. No proof of stable income? No housing—you can even offer to pay up-front or whatever, and they just won't bother dealing with you as a special case, because why would they deal with the special case when there's a dozen other safe, predictable, normal people in line behind you? Got an income, but can't prove it to be consistently enough? Congratulations, no housing for you. And thus begins the downward spiral.
  - sndean 10y ago
    Ah yeah, I forgot about this. I had to get my parents to co-sign on a lease... at 27, with a PhD, proof of employment, and "excellent" credit. It's pretty insane.
  - abalashov 10y ago
    Yep. I have bad personal credit (< 600) due to a cash-strapped entrepreneurial background and a strategic default, and it took over 10+ apartment tours before we found someone willing to rent to us--at any price, and with any amount of up-front deposit--once the credit check came back. I doubt most of the folk we dealt with would have taken us on even if I had offered to pay a full year's rent up front. It's just not worth the bother when there's a dual-income, no-kids couple with good credit next in line.