4 ms·
I think attributes of a town are more important than size. I live in a 30k population town (Northampton, MA), but we have a college (and others in neighboring
by loumf 16y ago
I think attributes of a town are more important than size. I live in a 30k population town (Northampton, MA), but we have a college (and others in neighboring towns) and great culture, restaurants, etc. The downtown is extremely walkable and has a music/bar scene. I know of a few great software companies in town or very nearby (e.g. cemerick's company). The best developers would have no problem finding a good job here -- my company has no problem finding great developers.
We may have fewer developers and companies, but it's the ratio that matters. When I lived in NYC, I could identify great developers, but the competition for them was fierce. The same went for the best jobs. It was about the same level of difficulty in NYC as Northampton, MA for me to find a great job and once there to recruit others.
- metageek 16y agoNorthampton also has the property that Boston and NYC are both within driving distance, which means that, if you just can't find a job close to home, you can go job hunting in either of the cities. That would make a big difference to me if I were considering moving there.
- loumf 16y agoWithin driving distance, but not commuting distance. Springfield, MA and Hartford, CT are within commuting distance though. They both have huge insurance companies where you could get an IT job. And both have better jobs than that as well. It's all about how good a candidate you are -- you'll have far less competition for the best jobs.