5 ms·
Arrived in 1992. Left in 2001. Lived in a Sunnyvale apartment two years and a San Jose house (NW of Campbell) for seven years. I moved there for my career, w
by kbob 16y ago
Arrived in 1992. Left in 2001. Lived in a Sunnyvale apartment two years and a San Jose house (NW of Campbell) for seven years.
I moved there for my career, which did very well. I largely hated the valley as a place to live, simply because it's too crowded. I have a low tolerance for traffic. I couldn't stand to drive to the supermarket, let alone go to work every day. So I spent all my time either at work or at home, and went out as little as possible. Lived in a tiny house because it was all I could afford. Hated it.
OTOH, I did meet a lot of lifelong friends there, including my wife. It's the only place I've lived where my geekiness wasn't the least bit unusual and where I wasn't usually the smartest person in the room, and that was refreshing.
Now I live in the middle of nowhere in a 4,000 ft2 house on 50 acres of land, which in retrospect was overreaction to the valley's housing and crowding. It still takes 20 minutes to get to the supermarket, but now I travel 15 miles of country roads instead of seven blocks of six-lane parking lot.
When I go back (I telecommute), I'm struck by the wealth, the workaholism, and the aforementioned number of geeks. I also have the energy to deal with the traffic, get out and do fun things for athe week or two that I'm there.
So that's my advice for QoL. Work there, live someplace else, visit occasionally.
(I still can't think of SF as part of silicon valley. The valley, to me, starts in Palo Alto and extends south. That's less true today than when I lived there, of course.)
- tptacek 16y agoThere is no worse place for a 20-something tech person to live than in one of those South Bay apartment hives. If you're new to the area, please, for god's sake, cross Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Jose, and Cupertino off your list. Read Christopher Alexander; those apartment complexes will make you insane and sad. Live in Oakland, in a shared house in San Mateo, or (if you can) the city.
- cageface 16y agoThose apartment complexes are like nicely furnished prisons. Stay away unless celibacy is a priority.
- wtracy 16y agoI've lived in one of those "hives" for a around a year. I've been fighting with clinical depression, but I was already having problems with that before I moved there. I can't tell if it's made things worse, though it certainly hasn't made things any better.
- lotusleaf1987 16y agoI'm living on the border of Sunnyvale and Mtn. View at 23 years old, and it is depressing as hell. Absolutely nothing within walking distance that's worthwhile, no one remotely my age, nothing going on other than the farmer's market (forgive me for not being excited about it). There are some positives, but I had no clue how BORING this place was before I moved here. I'm moving to San Mateo or farther north ASAP, but then will just have to commute even further...
- Psyonic 16y agoDo you think downtown MV (Castro St, etc) is any better? I actually just moved to the area myself, but haven't found my own apartment yet, so this is quite pertinent for me.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- lotusleaf1987 16y agoHow old are you? It depends... maybe if you're 27 or older, but for me no way. I think San Mateo or further north is much better. The South Bay doesn't have nearly anyone my age it seems and there's nothing to do unless you want to go to a mall or BestBuy.
- wdr1 16y agoHaving lived in one for 2.5 years (the Avalon in Sunnyvale), I strongly agree.
- Psyonic 16y agoI'm interested... what should I read by Christopher Alexander?
- Psyonic 16y agoAlso, I take it you feel the same about Mountain View? Anything closer than San Mateo that you feel has character? I'm working in MV, and I'm not a huge fan of long commutes.
- _delirium 16y agoSanta Cruz is another option, though I'm biased since I live here and like it. ;-) It's actually closer than most of the rest of the livable options if you work in the Cupertino/San Jose/Santa Clara area. You do have to get used to driving Hwy-17, but on a good day it's 35 mins driving, or 60 mins on the Hwy-17 bus (which has free wifi), versus 60-90 min driving to get to San Jose from Oakland or SF. And there's beach.
- fbnt 16y ago- It's the only place I've lived where my geekiness wasn't the least bit unusual and where I wasn't usually the smartest person in the room, and that was refreshing. - There's something I don't like in this sentence. This isn't the first time I hear something like this on HN.
- akl 16y agoIt may sound bad, but it's a legitimate feeling to have; there's a horrible feeling of stagnation and boredom when you are the technical escalation point for everyone you know - or at least there was for me.
- rmk 16y agoI recently visited the college town where I studied with my wife, and I am considering moving there, because the bay area has become practically unaffordable. I know that the weather is really something to die for, but the financial situation of the state is dire -- that makes for a very bad long-term outlook. Portland appears to be a very nice place, strikes the right balance between sprawl and compactness. If only it had better weather....
- lotusleaf1987 16y agoI've thought about moving to Portland for similar reasons but I just can't deal with that much rain.
- SkyMarshal 16y agoWhat college town is that? I'm considering moving to SF next year and tidbits like that could be quite valuable.
- rmk 16y agoState College, PA.