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I recently moved to the Valley from elsewhere. There are two key differences between "other places" I've experienced (Minneapolis/St. Paul, certain areas of Flo

I recently moved to the Valley from elsewhere. There are two key differences between "other places" I've experienced (Minneapolis/St. Paul, certain areas of Florida, Colorado, and Texas) and the Silicon Valley: employment availability and quality of life. I'll just say this: a true "apples-to-apples" comparison can't be restricted to, e.g. the cost of a 3/2 in each market. The availability and quality of public services (parks, schools, government offices, etc.) and, for me, exposure to a variety of cultures, is a huge factor. Additionally there is consideration for the availability of work. My experience is that there simply isn't the wide availability of jobs elsewhere as in the Valley, even in places that are "hot" in the start-up scene, and for the most part they are more "enterprise-y" in nature (i.e. software developers belong in the IT department, are cost centers, and should be considered as fungible as our call center staff). Given the relatively disloyal, and even antagonistic view companies take towards employees I consider that last one to be a huge factor. I will consider moving out of the Valley for a lower salary, when those places with lower salaries have: a) much higher job variety with more tech/software centric companies; b) much better public services and facilities.

prostoalex 13y ago
Check out Southern California. I've recently moved down from Bay Area (cashed out on rising real estate prices, which makes my previous years of living there rent-free), and there's a good mix of technology companies competing for talent with Bay Area outfits, so reasonably similar salary/equity ranges, with much better array of public services (decent parks with playgrounds, roads that are actually paved, number of people defecating on city streets close to zero, etc.) The drawback is car-centric culture. I hate driving, but didn't realize how much I hate it, until I moved down here.
humanrebar 13y ago
a) Tons of other places have a variety of startup employers. You don't seem to be counting B2B startups that serve particular sectors like air travel, energy, manufacturing, government, insurance, etc. They don't blog about javascript, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. b) Are you talking about a metro system? I can count on one hand the number of U.S. cities that have the population density to support that. Feel free to make that a deal-breaker, but realize that you're paying a premium in cost-of-living and limiting your career options and exposure to other ways of life. Otherwise, I don't know what public services means. The DMV in smaller towns tend to be much better. They have museums, concerts, conventions, and theaters in other cities.

prostoalex 13y ago

Check out Southern California. I've recently moved down from Bay Area (cashed out on rising real estate prices, which makes my previous years of living there rent-free), and there's a good mix of technology companies competing for talent with Bay Area outfits, so reasonably similar salary/equity ranges, with much better array of public services (decent parks with playgrounds, roads that are actually paved, number of people defecating on city streets close to zero, etc.) The drawback is car-centric culture. I hate driving, but didn't realize how much I hate it, until I moved down here.

humanrebar 13y ago

a) Tons of other places have a variety of startup employers. You don't seem to be counting B2B startups that serve particular sectors like air travel, energy, manufacturing, government, insurance, etc. They don't blog about javascript, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. b) Are you talking about a metro system? I can count on one hand the number of U.S. cities that have the population density to support that. Feel free to make that a deal-breaker, but realize that you're paying a premium in cost-of-living and limiting your career options and exposure to other ways of life. Otherwise, I don't know what public services means. The DMV in smaller towns tend to be much better. They have museums, concerts, conventions, and theaters in other cities.