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A lot of engineers in my group as well as a few friends are leaving the SF bay area. Now that working there is no longer a requirement and everything is shut do

A lot of engineers in my group as well as a few friends are leaving the SF bay area. Now that working there is no longer a requirement and everything is shut down, why live there? Oregon, Nevada, Colo, (cheaper areas of CA), all are places that they are heading to. Main reasons are cost, crowds(lack thereof) and overall better quality of life. Expect this trend to accelerate once more leases end.

bradlys 6y ago
And in my circle - none are leaving. We all recognize that leaving the area means leaving job opportunities behind too. We've seen what happens to engineers career trajectory who are remote at an in-person company.
- 01100011 6y ago
  So we can expect the population of the valley to shift towards even more career minded over achievers while normal folks flee. Great.
  - pm90 6y ago
    That’s a disingenuous characterization. SF job market and the Bay Area Technology “Scene” is what attracts a lot of “normal” people. One doesn’t have to be a career minded over achiever to want access to this job market.
  - bradlys 6y ago
    I mean - did we ever expect the trend to reverse? This region is built on the idea of professional opportunities (FAANG, bleeding edge tech, etc.) and the possibility of getting rich if you join the right startup (aka - buy the right lottery tickets/exercise-options). I've only seen it get worse as I've spent my time here. Has it ever been worse in terms of wealth disparity? I think it will continue to get worse short of radical change. (Prop 13 dying, rezoning w/ hundreds of thousands of apartments built, radical public transit, etc.)
    - 01100011 6y ago
      > This region is built on the idea of professional opportunities I'm pretty sure the region existed before tech blossomed half a decade ago. It was definitely a different place even 20 years ago. Also, like 99+% of folks here don't work for a startup. The people with the money don't seem to care about fixing the region's problems. The other people can't afford to. This area seems like it will just continue devolving into some sort of dystopian, cyberpunk future.
shostack 6y ago
There are a lot of reasons the Bay remains a desirable place to live outside career-related reasons. Weather, culture, friends/family for some, etc.

bradlys 6y ago

And in my circle - none are leaving. We all recognize that leaving the area means leaving job opportunities behind too. We've seen what happens to engineers career trajectory who are remote at an in-person company.

01100011 6y ago
So we can expect the population of the valley to shift towards even more career minded over achievers while normal folks flee. Great.
- pm90 6y ago
  That’s a disingenuous characterization. SF job market and the Bay Area Technology “Scene” is what attracts a lot of “normal” people. One doesn’t have to be a career minded over achiever to want access to this job market.
- bradlys 6y ago
  I mean - did we ever expect the trend to reverse? This region is built on the idea of professional opportunities (FAANG, bleeding edge tech, etc.) and the possibility of getting rich if you join the right startup (aka - buy the right lottery tickets/exercise-options). I've only seen it get worse as I've spent my time here. Has it ever been worse in terms of wealth disparity? I think it will continue to get worse short of radical change. (Prop 13 dying, rezoning w/ hundreds of thousands of apartments built, radical public transit, etc.)
  - 01100011 6y ago
    > This region is built on the idea of professional opportunities I'm pretty sure the region existed before tech blossomed half a decade ago. It was definitely a different place even 20 years ago. Also, like 99+% of folks here don't work for a startup. The people with the money don't seem to care about fixing the region's problems. The other people can't afford to. This area seems like it will just continue devolving into some sort of dystopian, cyberpunk future.

shostack 6y ago

There are a lot of reasons the Bay remains a desirable place to live outside career-related reasons. Weather, culture, friends/family for some, etc.