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I just moved from SF to Miami Beach a month ago. I loved SF but if you have the ability to work from home as I do, financially it does not make sense to stay. I

I just moved from SF to Miami Beach a month ago. I loved SF but if you have the ability to work from home as I do, financially it does not make sense to stay. I honestly would have preferred to move to Honolulu over here but the only area I liked (Tantalus/roundtop/pacheights) really didn't (at the time) have any nice houses for sale that were under 5 million. Also, while the cost of living is way down here, so is the income you will get from working a local job. I talked with a few people and there is scant a developer pulling in over 90k here. Compare that to SF where 100k salaries are the norm and it all evens out. With that said, I like MB/Miami. The tech scene is in its infancy though. I don't believe there is any real institutional venture funds here. Basically, raising a 'A' round is going to be very difficult. You might be able to pull it off with latin american based VC but it will be a struggle. I will say that the people I have met so far out here have been very nice and welcoming and there is a very good vibe. I am looking forward to building things out here.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago
I did an internship at IBM's Boca Raton site back in '95, where Microsoft used to work with IBM on OS/2 and NT. There used to be a much more vibrant tech scene in that area in the 90s, before everything moved to....Texas.
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  Also, Apple and AMD have facilities in Orlando.
  - seanmcdirmid 13y ago
    Not to mention the PC was born in Boca (IBM's initial PC 5150 and later).
- yardie 13y ago
  I used to work in Boca Raton in 03-05. The tech scene is very much financial services based. I would say most of the SFla tech is financial services. Not the actual stock market, but mortgages, banking, and refi, and normalized payments (the monthly income you would get from winning the lottery or lawsuit). I was a game beta tester at that IBM site in 96, later called T-REX. $17/hr for a 16yo was way better than anything McDonalds would pay.
dnishimura 13y ago
Honolulu's cost of living is comparable. Housing costs are slightly lower but food is much more expensive. I make just a little over 90k as a senior engineer and still living pay check to pay check. I probably can make almost double in SF from talking with other engineers I know there so it may be better for me to move.
- virtualwhys 13y ago
  Sadly, same on the north shore, rents are ridiculously high, particularly during the winter when the waves are pumping. I paid $1,600/month a few winters ago for basically a wooden shack with tin roof and high speed internet (across the street from V-land). Nice work/life balance, code, surf, code, surf, woohooo ;-)
auston 13y ago
Dan! We should meet, I'm going to email you now.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago

I did an internship at IBM's Boca Raton site back in '95, where Microsoft used to work with IBM on OS/2 and NT. There used to be a much more vibrant tech scene in that area in the 90s, before everything moved to....Texas.

Samuel_Michon 13y ago
Also, Apple and AMD have facilities in Orlando.
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  Not to mention the PC was born in Boca (IBM's initial PC 5150 and later).
yardie 13y ago
I used to work in Boca Raton in 03-05. The tech scene is very much financial services based. I would say most of the SFla tech is financial services. Not the actual stock market, but mortgages, banking, and refi, and normalized payments (the monthly income you would get from winning the lottery or lawsuit). I was a game beta tester at that IBM site in 96, later called T-REX. $17/hr for a 16yo was way better than anything McDonalds would pay.

dnishimura 13y ago

Honolulu's cost of living is comparable. Housing costs are slightly lower but food is much more expensive. I make just a little over 90k as a senior engineer and still living pay check to pay check. I probably can make almost double in SF from talking with other engineers I know there so it may be better for me to move.

virtualwhys 13y ago
Sadly, same on the north shore, rents are ridiculously high, particularly during the winter when the waves are pumping. I paid $1,600/month a few winters ago for basically a wooden shack with tin roof and high speed internet (across the street from V-land). Nice work/life balance, code, surf, code, surf, woohooo ;-)

auston 13y ago

Dan! We should meet, I'm going to email you now.