4 ms·
Being a midwest developer: - Cost of living. Its the cheapest place in the US to live. - Gender ratio. This is something new grads should absolutely consider.
by 015a 5y ago
Being a midwest developer:
- Cost of living. Its the cheapest place in the US to live.
- Gender ratio. This is something new grads should absolutely consider. The gender ratio even on midwest tech teams feels nation-leading, with many of the companies I've talked to (including my own) near 50-50. But even beyond tech; its far more equitable here. This is a theme I see all the time with west-coast tech; they talk about making change, implement tons of policies to try to it happen, but here, its already happened. We just don't talk about it. This is important for new grads even beyond their job; finding a partner here is so much easier & more fun.
- Pay & Job Security. Some companies are "old" and still stuck in their ways and won't match more high-tech salaries. You'll find that anywhere. Other companies have more progressive leadership, despite being a traditionally old business, and pay aggressively well. You'll also find that anywhere. You have to spend some time researching who is who, but: these companies have tons of money, desire to modernize, and the best part: very little sense of what being a "good engineer" means. Read into that what you will, but: you literally won't ever have a problem finding a job. I've gotten offers after literally just casually talking with someone for fifteen minutes in a company's engineering leadership at a tech meetup.
- Remote. Many west coast companies are now paying west coast salaries regardless of work location. Local companies are pushing for more work-from-home or hybrid.
- Novelty. Tech still feels nascent in many of these cities. Maybe not MSP/Chicago, but more of the second tier midwestern cities. The communities are small, three-person startups are still everywhere, and there's a startling amount of "old money" looking to invest. Most awesomely, there's much less bullshit; in general, you hear what some of these companies are working on and think "shit, that will sell".
- Weather. You get used to it. But you know what we don't get? Wildfires, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Tornadoes are common, but they generally don't strike major cities. I'd take the midwest environment over west coast any day; warm weather every day is fine, but imagine buying a house in an area that's years overdue for an earthquake that will level your city.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago> but imagine buying a house in an area that's years overdue for an earthquake that will level your city. Is there credibility to the notion of knowing that a place is going to have an earthquake within the precision of one human’s lifetime, or even a few generations of human’s lifetimes?
- 015a 5y agoEveryone who chooses to live in a location on the west coast made the right decision regarding "the big earthquake"... until it happens. Its a bad argument against moving there. But it is a good argument for moving somewhere else.
- strombofulous 5y ago> Cost of living. Its the cheapest place in the US to live. When I lived in a "low COL town" that wasn't in the midwest (about 2 hours from a major city of any kind and about an hour in various directions from a couple small cities) people would say this all the time... "Sure I'm only making 60% of what I could be but my CoL is so low!!"[0] But my rent was still over $600/mo + utilities for a 2-room apartment (each). There were some really bad options for sub-$300, but you were living in a sub-$300 apartment. You can make this choice anywhere. Gas costed the same it costs everywhere else Walmart prices were walmart prices. Restaurants were typically cheap but that's because they weren't amazing - the population couldn't afford to sustain an high-end restaurant. There are cheap restaurants everywhere. I felt like it was cheap compared to outliers like seattle and the bay area, but not cheap on its own. I'm interested in how this might be different from the midwest. What kinds of products or services stand out to you as significantly contributing towards a low CoL? [0] With remote the bit about 60% is no longer as accurate, but it's what a lot of people said at the time, and some of them still make comparatively little and say they're fine because of the low CoL.
- redisman 5y agoI mean 600/mo for a 2bd in 2021 is insane. Id imagine any top 50 city it’ll be close to 2000/mo
- seoaeu 5y agoTop 50 covers a lot more than you'd think! The Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro is actually the 16th largest, and there's plenty more midwest cities included as well. But you are of course right that $600/month is widely less than what you'd be paying in any of the high cost coastal cities
- redisman 5y agoI’ve lived in Midwest cities and that is not anywhere near realistic even 5 years ago. Maybe in some dead towns
- 015a 5y ago
- tandymodel100 5y agoThe gender ratio thing is weird and a surprising reason for why people my age seem to want to work in New York City. I really don’t get it - as a non-white guy people like me are out of luck no matter the ratio.
- ISO-morphism 5y agoI've stared at this comment for about an hour now. I'm reading this as you saying that where you currently are (the Midwest?) people your age perceive the gender ratio as poor, and think they'll have better luck with a better ratio in NYC. You feel like it doesn't matter whether you're in the Midwest or NYC, or whether the ratio is good or bad, being non-white is a larger factor than location or ratio. Am I reading that right, or am I misinterpreting?
- chrisseaton 5y agoThe gender ratios are so messed up in New York and San Francisco that at one point there was a service that would fly women from NY to SF, and men from SF to NY, for the weekend for group dating. I’ve heard first hand people take jobs in NY instead of SF as they think they’ll have a better chance at finding a woman partner.
- bradlys 5y agoGender ratios in NYC aren’t actually bad for women. There are actually more single men in nyc between ages 18-35 than single women. This stat is widely glossed over. But this is because that’s true in 95% of metros in the USA!! There are only more women overall in nyc because they include women past 35 - which is past the prime dating years. This holds true in just about every major city in the USA. 5% more men are born overall. It’s only evened out by age 40 because men kill themselves at a much higher rate than women. (General mental health crisis going on for men that is shoved under the rug)
- tandymodel100 5y agoThat is a correct interpretation.