4 ms·

I moved out to the bay area five years ago. Mostly, because I'm a nerd and wanted to be around other like-minded nerds and fulfill my nerd dreams. Fast forward

I moved out to the bay area five years ago. Mostly, because I'm a nerd and wanted to be around other like-minded nerds and fulfill my nerd dreams. Fast forward to today. I've worked at startups, big tech, and generally have lived that tech life. I see my friends back in Ohio taking vacations, buying homes, and generally having a nice life. And I see myself here, paying more and more rent each year, working in the high stress of startups and in the tech scene as my own passion for the actual tech slowly wanes. Sure, I make a lot of money and I have a fancy job but money and prestige, I've learned, isn't everything. If you're pissing all that money away with no end in sight, except to become fabulously wealthy in some kind of exit that likely won't ever happen, you start to question your original motives. At this point I have decided to stay another five years here, mostly so I can say I had a "10 year career" in the bay area. I will then take that experience, most likely back to the midwest, and try to leverage it into a better job than I'd be able to get by spending 10 years back in the midwest. Hopefully, this strategy will be successful for me. I think by then I'll have a shot at becoming director or VP-level, and coupled with my experience out here I will stand out in the midwest. I'll also have a far better experience-lead "technical education" out here than I would have ever had in Ohio, and that at least stands for something.

abalashov 9y ago
Indeed, one of the functions of tech economy meccas is precisely to enable this type of economic arbitrage, and certainly, that's one of the reasons why the cost of living in them commands a sizable economic premium. :) Best of luck in your venture.
pj_mukh 9y ago
It sucks that you have to choose between, "Mostly, because I'm a nerd and wanted to be around other like-minded nerds and fulfill my nerd dreams." and "taking vacations, buying homes, and generally having a nice life. " Ideally, you wouldn't have to choose between the two. In fact, the two should compliment each other instead of trade-off.
- chris_7 9y ago
  My techie friends in New York tend to be the ones taking the interesting vacations because they have a lot more money. New York and Bay Area tech companies can pay two or three times what the suburban office park type companies pay, and they have other benefits that add up as well (i.e. fully-paid tiny-copay health insurance). While housing costs will eat into that somehwat, whether you rent or buy, I don't think that they come close to cancelling out that increase. Then, when we do go on vacation, there are more flights, since we're near major international airports. Since I live near EWR and JFK, I don't really need to consider connecting flights for European vacations, for example. There are other less objective things for describing a "nice life", of course (IMO, renting vs. buying should be categorized as one of these, neither is superior). For example, non-chain restaurant availability, quality of cultural institutions, etc.
  - closeparen 9y ago
    Yes, the difference between $250k and $1.2m homes will absolutely cancel out the difference between $80k and $120k salaries. You're coming out ahead only if homeownership is not important to you, or you're willing to live in shared/substandard housing. Which is a perfectly reasonable thing to do in your early 20s, but not necessarily long term.
  - pj_mukh 9y ago
    Those are totally fair. The one remain barrier that SF suffers from is 'starting a family'. Looking around, it seems you need a level-above the regular engineer's salary for you to afford a family living in San Francisco.
nfriedly 9y ago
That's about what I planned for, except I gave up and moved back to Ohio after a year in the bay area. (I was already married before moving out; my wife's wishes were part of the reason for moving back earlier than planned.) But I managed to keep a low/mid-range SF salary and work remote from Ohio. So, while I'm not a director or VP yet, I do have a house that will be completely paid for in about 8-10 years total, and I should be financially independent by age 45-50.

abalashov 9y ago

Indeed, one of the functions of tech economy meccas is precisely to enable this type of economic arbitrage, and certainly, that's one of the reasons why the cost of living in them commands a sizable economic premium. :) Best of luck in your venture.

pj_mukh 9y ago

It sucks that you have to choose between, "Mostly, because I'm a nerd and wanted to be around other like-minded nerds and fulfill my nerd dreams." and "taking vacations, buying homes, and generally having a nice life. " Ideally, you wouldn't have to choose between the two. In fact, the two should compliment each other instead of trade-off.

chris_7 9y ago
My techie friends in New York tend to be the ones taking the interesting vacations because they have a lot more money. New York and Bay Area tech companies can pay two or three times what the suburban office park type companies pay, and they have other benefits that add up as well (i.e. fully-paid tiny-copay health insurance). While housing costs will eat into that somehwat, whether you rent or buy, I don't think that they come close to cancelling out that increase. Then, when we do go on vacation, there are more flights, since we're near major international airports. Since I live near EWR and JFK, I don't really need to consider connecting flights for European vacations, for example. There are other less objective things for describing a "nice life", of course (IMO, renting vs. buying should be categorized as one of these, neither is superior). For example, non-chain restaurant availability, quality of cultural institutions, etc.
- closeparen 9y ago
  Yes, the difference between $250k and $1.2m homes will absolutely cancel out the difference between $80k and $120k salaries. You're coming out ahead only if homeownership is not important to you, or you're willing to live in shared/substandard housing. Which is a perfectly reasonable thing to do in your early 20s, but not necessarily long term.
- pj_mukh 9y ago
  Those are totally fair. The one remain barrier that SF suffers from is 'starting a family'. Looking around, it seems you need a level-above the regular engineer's salary for you to afford a family living in San Francisco.

nfriedly 9y ago

That's about what I planned for, except I gave up and moved back to Ohio after a year in the bay area. (I was already married before moving out; my wife's wishes were part of the reason for moving back earlier than planned.) But I managed to keep a low/mid-range SF salary and work remote from Ohio. So, while I'm not a director or VP yet, I do have a house that will be completely paid for in about 8-10 years total, and I should be financially independent by age 45-50.