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Thanks for sharing. I stared in horror at the following: "Here in Silicon Valley, it’s even worse. I have an aesthetically nicer place, but I now don’t even h

Thanks for sharing. I stared in horror at the following: "Here in Silicon Valley, it’s even worse. I have an aesthetically nicer place, but I now don’t even have a desk or desktop machine. I type from a small laptop on my couch, being held up by a pillow. I have no room for a chalkboard or whiteboard, unless I wanted to cover up half of my mirrored closet." I am an east-coast developer and am totally spoiled with my home office. I never had an urge to move to silicon valley and this makes me even happier I'm not there. Five computers spread out over three desks, two large bookshelves, a couch, and a fireplace.

neuronic 7y ago
I am a German developer with a German developer salary (between 60k€ and 70k€ to provide a ballpark estimate) and I live in the center of a large, well-known German city. The area is extremely nice except for parking and I live in a ~70sqm modernized apartment with my own home office and enough room for tech gadgets, a large couch, a large bed and a balcony... etc. In the evening, restaurants, bars, cinema and nice parks are < 15mins walk away. Grocery store from cheap to luxurious are in the same range. I have access to good healthcare (aside from getting an appointment for specialists it's fine), insured the most important aspects of my life and if I want to go to another large capital I need 20mins to go to Central Station and take a train or 20mins to the airport and take a flight. Aside from Apple and depending on what you want, all major Silicon Valley firms provide jobs in at least one of the larger German cities, notably Munich though. I honestly do not understand why people are drawn to Silicon Valley so much - unless it's simply about the "environment of minds" if you are willing to sacrifice all other aspects of life to it to some degree (worse living situation, worse working conditions...). For innovation and startup life, I suppose it makes sense. But for a normal software engineer? Can somebody explain this to me?
- rusticpenn 7y ago
  70k might be fine for a single person in munich, but when you have a family (single earner), does it work?
- trevyn 7y ago
  Why are finance people drawn to New York? Why are film people drawn to Los Angeles? More is different.
- i_am_new_here 7y ago
  Salary at FAANG starts at 120.000USD (when you 'just' graduated from Stanford or Berkeley) and will go up to about 300.000 over time.
  - neuronic 7y ago
    I understand that. I earn less but don't push half my salary to rent or breaking my bone.

neuronic 7y ago

I am a German developer with a German developer salary (between 60k€ and 70k€ to provide a ballpark estimate) and I live in the center of a large, well-known German city. The area is extremely nice except for parking and I live in a ~70sqm modernized apartment with my own home office and enough room for tech gadgets, a large couch, a large bed and a balcony... etc. In the evening, restaurants, bars, cinema and nice parks are < 15mins walk away. Grocery store from cheap to luxurious are in the same range. I have access to good healthcare (aside from getting an appointment for specialists it's fine), insured the most important aspects of my life and if I want to go to another large capital I need 20mins to go to Central Station and take a train or 20mins to the airport and take a flight. Aside from Apple and depending on what you want, all major Silicon Valley firms provide jobs in at least one of the larger German cities, notably Munich though. I honestly do not understand why people are drawn to Silicon Valley so much - unless it's simply about the "environment of minds" if you are willing to sacrifice all other aspects of life to it to some degree (worse living situation, worse working conditions...). For innovation and startup life, I suppose it makes sense. But for a normal software engineer? Can somebody explain this to me?

rusticpenn 7y ago
70k might be fine for a single person in munich, but when you have a family (single earner), does it work?
trevyn 7y ago
Why are finance people drawn to New York? Why are film people drawn to Los Angeles? More is different.
i_am_new_here 7y ago
Salary at FAANG starts at 120.000USD (when you 'just' graduated from Stanford or Berkeley) and will go up to about 300.000 over time.
- neuronic 7y ago
  I understand that. I earn less but don't push half my salary to rent or breaking my bone.