3 ms·

Wow the Bay area is crazier and crazier, 2M for that dump... yeah 4 bedroom in Mountain View, but it's a 1964 and looks like it's going to fall down at the firs

Wow the Bay area is crazier and crazier, 2M for that dump... yeah 4 bedroom in Mountain View, but it's a 1964 and looks like it's going to fall down at the first gust of wind. Everything inside the house is to be remade too and in 2012 the property was worth 700K. That area is literally unliveable now.

nostrademons 7y ago
It's a different lifestyle. You're just not in your house a whole lot in the Bay Area. My weekend involved a trip to a science museum & zoo; picnic lunch by the Bay; friend's kid's 2nd birthday party at a park; gymnastics class for my toddler; mom's group at the park; meeting up with mother-in-law; and a carnival. During the weekdays you're usually behind a computer screen most of the time, or you go for a hike, bike home, or take part in an organized activity (I took Krav Maga lessons after work from the former head of the IDF's counterterrorism training for a couple years). It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to spend a lot of money for a house or a lot of time to fix it up nicely when it's basically just a place to sleep. (Sometimes I wonder if folks who buy these $2M homes are just folks who have bought into the conventional idea of the American dream and absolutely must own a home.) And then on the flip side, most of those folks own financial assets elsewhere - either they get stock options in their employer, or they sell those stock options and diversify among other stocks, or they buy 5 homes in the Midwest and rent them out as an absentee landlord. The system is driven by the massive amount of money flowing into the region from all over the globe as software eats the world - this fills local municipalities with tax dollars that they can use to provide public goods, and it inflates the stock compensation that companies pay their employees, which gives them money to afford the exorbitant rents while still saving up a million or so. It's ultimately unsustainable - bad things are going to happen to Silicon Valley once software is not the engine of growth throughout the world - but that's probably a few decades off, and in the meantime people who partake in the system can afford to buy up whole city blocks in Detroit.
- aceon48 7y ago
  That does sound like a wonderful weekend. We are relatively new to the Bay and still trying to find out way and people. How did you get connected to everything / find things to do and people to hang out with? We have a few month old baby
  - nostrademons 7y ago
    I've been here a decade and my wife grew up here - I end up piggybacking on a lot of her friends and social activities, and I picked up a bunch more from coworkers and such. But for a whirlwind HN guide to the Bay Area: Parks: check Google Maps for anything that's a splotch of green and just go to it. Local parks are free, county & state parks often charge a $5 admission (frequently not enforced). Most of them are pretty good. BAHiker.com has a good guide to state & county parks, Google Maps has pictures and reviews on local parks. Events: Google [$city events] or check out EventBrite, Johnny Funcheap, or SFGate & the Mercury News's events sections. Also look for flyers when you visit your local downtown area, or check out the local library's website (they often sponsor a lot of fun stuff like storytime for kids or Star Wars Day). Many of the peninsula towns sponsor things like classes, swim lessons, outdoor movie nights. Socializing: the Bay Area has a thriving Meetup scene, but tbh I've never made a friend that stuck through public Meetup groups. Had much better luck with staying friends with former coworkers, and with paid activities (gyms, courses, music lessons, kid stuff, etc.) Google is your friend here; Google [$activity near me] and you're almost certainly going to find something. Because the Bay Area is both wealthy and densely populated, it's a magnet for really good instructors: aside from the aforementioned Krav Maga gym (KravZone in Sunnyvale), there are 3 world-class gymnastics gyms (West Valley, San Mateo, Airborne); a mandolin orchestra (SF Mandolin); some hardcore cyclists (have seen them riding over the mountains in a group occasionally); and many other activities. For mom's groups: there're some that are just organized over Facebook (oftentimes by invitation - if you get plugged into the parent networks you often find out all sorts groups), some that are public, and some that are organized through local non-profits (eg. Blossom Birth or El Camino Hospital). I'd probably start with a for-pay class to meet people (folks are often more committed in the for-pay classes, and it draws from a social class that is more tightly networked) and then ask them if they know of other resources. Museums & amusement parks: the big science ones are the Exploratorium and Cal Academy in SF, the Tech in San Jose. Smaller science ones include Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, Monterey Bay Aquarium, SF Aquarium, and Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz. Kids ones are CuriOdyssey in San Mateo, Happy Hollow in San Jose, Junior Museum in Palo Alto, the Discovery Museum in San Jose, and Gilroy Gardens in Gilroy. Amusement parks: Great America in Santa Clara, Raging Waters in San Jose, Children's Fairyland in Oakland, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and Six Flags in Vallejo. History & general interest: Egyptian Museum in San Jose, Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Maritime Museum in SF, the Hornet in Alameda, and probably a few others. There are also 3 railroads that my kid loves (Billy Jones @ Vasona Park, which also has a carousel; Roaring Camp @ Henry Cowell Park; and the seasonal Train of Lights between Fremont and Sunol), and most of the local parks have splash pads that he really enjoys.

nostrademons 7y ago

It's a different lifestyle. You're just not in your house a whole lot in the Bay Area. My weekend involved a trip to a science museum & zoo; picnic lunch by the Bay; friend's kid's 2nd birthday party at a park; gymnastics class for my toddler; mom's group at the park; meeting up with mother-in-law; and a carnival. During the weekdays you're usually behind a computer screen most of the time, or you go for a hike, bike home, or take part in an organized activity (I took Krav Maga lessons after work from the former head of the IDF's counterterrorism training for a couple years). It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to spend a lot of money for a house or a lot of time to fix it up nicely when it's basically just a place to sleep. (Sometimes I wonder if folks who buy these $2M homes are just folks who have bought into the conventional idea of the American dream and absolutely must own a home.) And then on the flip side, most of those folks own financial assets elsewhere - either they get stock options in their employer, or they sell those stock options and diversify among other stocks, or they buy 5 homes in the Midwest and rent them out as an absentee landlord. The system is driven by the massive amount of money flowing into the region from all over the globe as software eats the world - this fills local municipalities with tax dollars that they can use to provide public goods, and it inflates the stock compensation that companies pay their employees, which gives them money to afford the exorbitant rents while still saving up a million or so. It's ultimately unsustainable - bad things are going to happen to Silicon Valley once software is not the engine of growth throughout the world - but that's probably a few decades off, and in the meantime people who partake in the system can afford to buy up whole city blocks in Detroit.

aceon48 7y ago
That does sound like a wonderful weekend. We are relatively new to the Bay and still trying to find out way and people. How did you get connected to everything / find things to do and people to hang out with? We have a few month old baby
- nostrademons 7y ago
  I've been here a decade and my wife grew up here - I end up piggybacking on a lot of her friends and social activities, and I picked up a bunch more from coworkers and such. But for a whirlwind HN guide to the Bay Area: Parks: check Google Maps for anything that's a splotch of green and just go to it. Local parks are free, county & state parks often charge a $5 admission (frequently not enforced). Most of them are pretty good. BAHiker.com has a good guide to state & county parks, Google Maps has pictures and reviews on local parks. Events: Google [$city events] or check out EventBrite, Johnny Funcheap, or SFGate & the Mercury News's events sections. Also look for flyers when you visit your local downtown area, or check out the local library's website (they often sponsor a lot of fun stuff like storytime for kids or Star Wars Day). Many of the peninsula towns sponsor things like classes, swim lessons, outdoor movie nights. Socializing: the Bay Area has a thriving Meetup scene, but tbh I've never made a friend that stuck through public Meetup groups. Had much better luck with staying friends with former coworkers, and with paid activities (gyms, courses, music lessons, kid stuff, etc.) Google is your friend here; Google [$activity near me] and you're almost certainly going to find something. Because the Bay Area is both wealthy and densely populated, it's a magnet for really good instructors: aside from the aforementioned Krav Maga gym (KravZone in Sunnyvale), there are 3 world-class gymnastics gyms (West Valley, San Mateo, Airborne); a mandolin orchestra (SF Mandolin); some hardcore cyclists (have seen them riding over the mountains in a group occasionally); and many other activities. For mom's groups: there're some that are just organized over Facebook (oftentimes by invitation - if you get plugged into the parent networks you often find out all sorts groups), some that are public, and some that are organized through local non-profits (eg. Blossom Birth or El Camino Hospital). I'd probably start with a for-pay class to meet people (folks are often more committed in the for-pay classes, and it draws from a social class that is more tightly networked) and then ask them if they know of other resources. Museums & amusement parks: the big science ones are the Exploratorium and Cal Academy in SF, the Tech in San Jose. Smaller science ones include Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, Monterey Bay Aquarium, SF Aquarium, and Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz. Kids ones are CuriOdyssey in San Mateo, Happy Hollow in San Jose, Junior Museum in Palo Alto, the Discovery Museum in San Jose, and Gilroy Gardens in Gilroy. Amusement parks: Great America in Santa Clara, Raging Waters in San Jose, Children's Fairyland in Oakland, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and Six Flags in Vallejo. History & general interest: Egyptian Museum in San Jose, Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Maritime Museum in SF, the Hornet in Alameda, and probably a few others. There are also 3 railroads that my kid loves (Billy Jones @ Vasona Park, which also has a carousel; Roaring Camp @ Henry Cowell Park; and the seasonal Train of Lights between Fremont and Sunol), and most of the local parks have splash pads that he really enjoys.