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Sounds like your talking about Elliot Lake. (I'm in Sudbury). After the boom, Elliot Lake rebranded itself as a retirement community with some measure of succe

Sounds like your talking about Elliot Lake. (I'm in Sudbury). After the boom, Elliot Lake rebranded itself as a retirement community with some measure of success. It hilarious to see the cost of housing there. A 3 bed, 2 bath house built in the 70's goes for $75K. But good luck trying to sell it. That being said, I like the town. A lake in the middle of town with a natural beach, hiking, bike, cross country ski trails at your doorstop. Minutes away from great fishing, hunting, ATV'ing.. Its an outdoor persons paradise. I have a recurring dream of doing a startup, and attracting tech workers to the area. Imagine the money you could save while I enjoying a very high standard of living. Granted, those attracted to the idea would be 'seasoned', as the lack of access to major events would be a big negative for some. In the meantime, I'll stay in Sudbury, making 60% of what I should be making, but enjoying the outdoors at my doorstep.

tejohnso 9y ago
" Its an outdoor persons paradise. " For 5 months out of the year. Unless you enjoy cold weather outdoor activity as well. (Grew up in Sudbury, tried to leave the cold for good, ended up back in Ontario but further south.)
- bungie4 9y ago
  LOL. You'll be back. Sudbury is a blackhole. Nobody escapes :D But you have a very valid point. I like winter, the seasons, but winter itself, up here, is very long and can be quite harsh. The flipside is, we tend to stay inside with our appliances and get work done.
thatcherc 9y ago
> I have a recurring dream of doing a startup, and attracting tech workers to the area. I've had the same idea but for Maine. There are all these old, closed-down lumber and paper mills right near the ocean, islands, lakes, and mountains. I would love to bring a startup there to so I could do interesting work and have such close proximity to an awesome outdoor environment.
- jsight 9y ago
  I've worked with some people in Massachusetts who chose it for exactly those reasons. There are plenty of tech companies in the suburban areas around Boston, and the parks are (supposedly) fantastic.
Kelbit 9y ago
Young people move out to the sticks in many industries, especially at the start of their careers (for example, teachers, doctors, nurses, and police often have to start out in small communities to build experience). I don't think age is going to be the limiting factor in attracting workers. I know lots of young people in technical fields with a similar view: they hate the expense of the city, but there is no way for them to move out to rural communities and still do the same type of work. The limiting factors, I think, are more (1) lack of VC interest in funding something where the company is going to be based in the middle of nowhere, and (2) the lack of job security for tech workers who choose to live somewhere like that. On the first point, VCs are very attached to the orbit of their cities. Silicon Valley is of course the big innovation centre, but basically any city above around 250k people now has at least a small tech industry with affiliated venture capital firms. Unfortunately, I can't see VCs interested in something where if they want to go see their investment they have to go get on a plane, then rent a car, and drive a couple of hours. So, any successful rural tech startup is going to need to be at least partially bootstrapped. The second point is the inherent risk in moving somewhere like that for a job, especially a job as volatile as a tech startup. You move out there, buy a house, maybe start a family - and then the company folds or downsizes. You basically have no choice at that point but to uproot and move, leaving all your friends and your home behind. Of course, you could also maybe spin this as a positive point: the "company man" is considered dead these days, especially so in high tech. Nobody sticks around anymore, there's very little loyalty on both the part of the employer and employee. However, in an environment where you're literally the only tech employer in town, you would probably get employees who actually stuck with the company and stayed committed.

tejohnso 9y ago

" Its an outdoor persons paradise. " For 5 months out of the year. Unless you enjoy cold weather outdoor activity as well. (Grew up in Sudbury, tried to leave the cold for good, ended up back in Ontario but further south.)

bungie4 9y ago
LOL. You'll be back. Sudbury is a blackhole. Nobody escapes :D But you have a very valid point. I like winter, the seasons, but winter itself, up here, is very long and can be quite harsh. The flipside is, we tend to stay inside with our appliances and get work done.

thatcherc 9y ago

> I have a recurring dream of doing a startup, and attracting tech workers to the area. I've had the same idea but for Maine. There are all these old, closed-down lumber and paper mills right near the ocean, islands, lakes, and mountains. I would love to bring a startup there to so I could do interesting work and have such close proximity to an awesome outdoor environment.

jsight 9y ago
I've worked with some people in Massachusetts who chose it for exactly those reasons. There are plenty of tech companies in the suburban areas around Boston, and the parks are (supposedly) fantastic.

Kelbit 9y ago

Young people move out to the sticks in many industries, especially at the start of their careers (for example, teachers, doctors, nurses, and police often have to start out in small communities to build experience). I don't think age is going to be the limiting factor in attracting workers. I know lots of young people in technical fields with a similar view: they hate the expense of the city, but there is no way for them to move out to rural communities and still do the same type of work. The limiting factors, I think, are more (1) lack of VC interest in funding something where the company is going to be based in the middle of nowhere, and (2) the lack of job security for tech workers who choose to live somewhere like that. On the first point, VCs are very attached to the orbit of their cities. Silicon Valley is of course the big innovation centre, but basically any city above around 250k people now has at least a small tech industry with affiliated venture capital firms. Unfortunately, I can't see VCs interested in something where if they want to go see their investment they have to go get on a plane, then rent a car, and drive a couple of hours. So, any successful rural tech startup is going to need to be at least partially bootstrapped. The second point is the inherent risk in moving somewhere like that for a job, especially a job as volatile as a tech startup. You move out there, buy a house, maybe start a family - and then the company folds or downsizes. You basically have no choice at that point but to uproot and move, leaving all your friends and your home behind. Of course, you could also maybe spin this as a positive point: the "company man" is considered dead these days, especially so in high tech. Nobody sticks around anymore, there's very little loyalty on both the part of the employer and employee. However, in an environment where you're literally the only tech employer in town, you would probably get employees who actually stuck with the company and stayed committed.