I agree that this isn't a place to find a software job. I interpreted op's "follow my own intellectual pursuits" as not working. If they are coming from the bay

I agree that this isn't a place to find a software job. I interpreted op's "follow my own intellectual pursuits" as not working. If they are coming from the bay area as a software engineer then their savings will go a very long way here, but not so much in other big cities.