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The cost of living is also a fraction of the one in silicon valley. I stayed in Silicon Valley for a few months and compared to Munich, the quality of living is
by KitDuncan 9y ago
The cost of living is also a fraction of the one in silicon valley. I stayed in Silicon Valley for a few months and compared to Munich, the quality of living is complete horse shit, to be honest.
And Munich is the most expensive city in Germany.
- aries1980 9y agoI bet you don't mean at central locations, because 10-20 miles further to your workplace, as most of Londoners or Berliners can afford to live, you have affordable housing in SV as well.
- KitDuncan 9y agoThat's an interesting aspect I didn't consider. Another issue though is traffic during rush hour in Silicon Valley. I can see myself traveling 20 miles in/around Munich in half an hour, while in Silicon Valley, that would probably take me 1.5 hours, because of the pretty much non existent public transportation.
- aries1980 9y agoLondon is not much better. E.g. from Hammersmith (a posh, well connected area) to Old Street (aka “Tech City”), this 14km journey is 46 mins from underground station to underground station, both are north to the river. https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/results?IsAsync=true&JpType=publictransport&InputFrom=Hammersmith%2C+London%2C+United+Kingdom&Modes=bus%2Ctube%2Cnational-rail%2Cdlr%2Coverground%2Ctflrail%2Criver-bus%2Ctram%2Ccable-car%2Ccoach&From=Hammersmith%2C+London%2C+United+Kingdom&FromId=&PreviousFrom=Greenwich&InputTo=Old+Street%2C+Old+Street+Station&To=Old+Street%2C+Old+Street+Station&ToId=1000169&PreviousTo=Old+Street%2C+Old+Street+Station&TimeIs=arriving&Date=20170531&Time=0900&IsMapRequired=False&Mode=bus&Mode=tube&Mode=national-rail&Mode=dlr&Mode=overground&Mode=tflrail&Mode=river-bus&Mode=tram&Mode=cable-car&Mode=coach&CyclePreference=AllTheWay&WalkingSpeedWalking=average&JourneyPreference=leasttime&AccessibilityPreference=norequirements&MaxWalkingMinutes=40&WalkingSpeedTransport=average&InputVia=&Via=&ViaId=&PreviousVia=&NationalSearch=false&WalkingOptimization=false&SavePreferences=false&IsMultipleJourneySelection=False&JourneyType=&IsPastWarning=False https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/results?IsAsync=true&JpTyp... Sure, you can move around to carve down 10 mins, but then you give up to live in realitvely nice, convenient area populated middle class people and yet not as expensive as Chelsea or Chiswick. If you live further, your journey time from station to station is not much longer, but only if you are lucky and there is no delay in the service, which happens almost daily.
- morsch 9y agoBerlin isn't anywhere near as expensive as you seem to think. Housing costs seems to be at around half of London's level. https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/london https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/london https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/berlin https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/berlin 1000 to 1250 EUR for a 900 Sqft apartment.
- mbaha 9y agoCan you please elaborate ? SV seems like the place to be, but I lived in a cheap french city for the past 5 years, and I'm sure living in SV has its downsides in terms of quality of life. Bonus: please include numbers :).
- tzakrajs 9y agoWhat part of Silicon Valley? I am curious where the quality of living is horseshit.
- KitDuncan 9y agoNo I wouldn't call it horseshit. What I said was, that compared to Munich, it's horseshit. But that's totally just an opinion. I lived in Mountain View.
- throwfoodinsv 9y agofood in Germany is horseshit. I can get amazing Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Vietnamese/Thai/American food in SV. and very good French/Italian in SF.
- Bahamut 9y agoEh, I love it in Mountain View, but it isn't for everyone. I run a lot with friends, and there are a lot of great areas to run nearby (and in the Bay Area in general).
- azernik 9y agoEverywhere? Once you get used to functioning public services (transit especially), density of services (groceries, cafes), and a decent return on your tax dollars for things like retirement savings and health care, even the Bay starts to pale. That's not to say that all parts of Europe are better to live in than all parts of the US; but rich, central urban areas of the kind that techies can afford to live in are fantastic in Western Europe.
- smsm42 9y agoPublic transit is crappy, but it's the US for you - outside of large cities, everybody's driving. I suppose in rural Europe the situation is the same, but there's not much to do in rural Europe if you're working in high tech. OTOH, San Jose - The Capital of Silicon Valley as it calls itself - is quite rural despite its large population, especially compared to cities like Munich. Thus crappy public transport. Once you get past that - i.e. accept that you'd have to drive - the density of services is fine, they are pretty much same distance (measured in time) you'd find them in the city, except that you're driving there. As for return on your tax dollars, can't compare to Europe due to lack of information. Healthcare is fine, retirement savings don't have much to do with tax dollars anyway.
- runn1ng 9y agoBut Sillicon Valley has higher vegan food for dogs density.
- throwfoodinsv 9y agoI can get amazing Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Vietnamese/Thai/American food in SV. and very good French/Italian in SF. I get shit food in Germany.