9 ms·
I'm a little sad he didn't say anything about Seattle, only a couple hours from Vancouver and with sizable and thriving Google offices. It is also has "greens
by haberman 13y ago
I'm a little sad he didn't say anything about Seattle, only a couple hours from Vancouver and with sizable and thriving Google offices. It is also has "greens and greys and unfussily variegated people" -- clearly it's not Canada, but in general it would be a much less drastic transition!
- amaks 13y agoBesides, Seattle weather and landscape are a lot like Vancouver (and lot less expensive).
- jarek 13y agoWith Seattle vs Vancouver, you get what you pay for.
- fidotron 13y agoGoogle are really consolidating in a few offices, mainly MV, NYC, Zurich, possibly London and Tokyo. MV is a whole different ballgame to the other locations and is a world unto itself.
- nobodysbusiness 13y agoGoogle recently announced that they're moving their whole Region of Waterloo office (in Canada) into a larger building to accommodate more growth: http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4368031-google-moving-into-larger-quarters-in-kitchener/ http://www.therecord.com/news-story/4368031-google-moving-in...
- mrtron 13y agoThat will be a second move to a larger space in KW.
- jknightco 13y agoIf by "consolidating in a few offices" you mean that growth in MTV, NYC, and ZRH is outpacing growth in places like Boulder, Cambridge, and Kirkland then you're correct; that doesn't mean that the smaller offices aren't growing as well, however.
- fidotron 13y agoNot really. If you're in one of those smaller offices you have absolutely no control of your destiny at all, and the glass ceiling is very low.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- fidotron 13y agoEasy, above fairly junior level you're either told to be in one of the big offices at the point of joining or they'll hire you then crank up the pressure to move. Places like the Seattle office exist mainly to get people in the company, then to drag the ones they like further south. Many of the rest will effectively be being paid to not work at MS or Amazon. There's a good reason I described MV as a world apart.
- haberman 13y agoI'm sorry but you have no idea what you are talking about.
- haberman 13y agoNeither of those things are true at all, from my experience and from what I have observed working in the Seattle office for five years. Where are you getting this information? The Seattle/Kirkland offices have over 1,000 employees and are growing. They have people at all different levels including directors and principal engineers and lots of important projects going on. These aren't minor little operations.
- jrockway 13y agoChicago and Seattle/Kirkland are still growing, however. There has been a lot of consolidation, but also to offices other than those listed.
- haberman 13y agoSeattle is still growing, expanding its office space, building new cafes, etc. I'm pretty sure Seattle (and Kirkland) are in it for the long haul.
- dpe82 13y agoNot sure if it means anything, but they recently signed a long-term lease for their office in Madison, WI.
- turing 13y agoReally? Because Google is in the process of doubling the size of its Kirkland office. http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020543320_googleexpansionxml.html http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020543320_g...
- untog 13y agoI suspect that moving countries becomes a significant issue when you have a family. In a weird way, Seattle's proximity and similarity might count against it - you'd have to go through a lot of hurdles just to end up in an incredibly similar situation, a short ferry ride away from where you were.
- trauco 13y agoBut it's clear the group he was working within is in the Bay Area. And so it seems like even going to Seattle would mean changing groups (and possibly the focus of his work) within the company. Moving countries and changing the work you are doing is pretty disruptive.
- eevilspock 13y agoVancouver is a real city. Seattle is provincial, passive-aggressive, unfriendly to outsiders, and segregated. A hick town with skyscrapers as I've often called it. Californians who've moved there almost unanimously agree with my first sentence, and crack up at the latter. (Sadly, I lived in Seattle for 17 years. The Bay Area before that, and New York now.)
- taude 13y agoTotally agree with you 110% on the passive-aggressive thing. I've been on east coast now (Boston) for about 16 years. I've grown to appreciate knowing where I stand with people.
- stephencanon 13y agoSeeing as California is extraordinarily passive-aggressive (from a New Englander’s perspective), that really says something.
- kenjackson 13y agoWhere aren't people passive aggressive? No where I've ever been.
- stephencanon 13y agoThere are passive-aggressive people everywhere, but it is especially prevalent on the west coast. There’s an old cartoon that sums it up perfectly, comparing New York and LA: the New Yorker is shown to be thinking “I love you, man” but saying “fuck you!”. For the Angelino it's the opposite.
- georgemcbay 13y agoAs someone who lived his first 22 years in the metro Boston area but has lived in various parts of California for something like 16 years, I'd argue that it is impossible to paint "California" with such a wide brush. I live in San Diego and it is very different here than in LA or the SF Bay Area (with each of those also being very distinct from each other).
- tobyjsullivan 13y agoThis was Google's thought when I was talking to them. "Seattle's only a couple hours away. You could possibly even commute!" I checked out the area through the lens of possibly living there when I went down for my interview. Seattle and Kirkland are not comparable to Vancouver in the slightest. Mostly the ghettos and rampant poverty, combined with the fundamental social differences between the countries. Didn't help that the one restaurant I ate at in the suburb of Kirkland had a fresh bullet hole in one of the windows. No thanks. I found areas of New York (Williamsburg and Dumbo to be specific) that felt more like Vancouver to me than anywhere in the Seattle area. My calls with Google are now pretty short. "Is there a Google office in Vancouver yet? No? Not interested, thanks."
- dubfan 13y agoSeattle doesn't have ghettos. Seriously, compare Oakland or south-central LA to Seattle's "ghettos" and tell me they are similar. Vancouver's Downtown Eastside had the worst concentration of poverty and desperation I'd ever seen in North America while I lived in Vancouver.
- Jack000 13y agoVancouver's poverty is kind of odd and I think not entirely comparable to other areas. It's concentrated in just a couple of blocks on hastings, in a highly visible area. The overall homeless rate is actually higher in less populous municipalities like Abbotsford. It's also not a "violent" ghetto, I've never felt unsafe walking down that stretch of road, compared to some of the places I've been in the US.
- tobyjsullivan 13y agoI probably misused the word ghetto there (forgetting some parts of America have real ghettos). The word I should be using is poverty. It's rampant and seems to be everywhere. You can mostly avoid it if you stick to the very central downtown core which I always did as a tourist. But that was definitely just my impression of the city. I'm not damning the city for it, everywhere has problems. I just can't imagine living around that would have a positive long-term effect on anyone's state of mind. It's not where I would chose to be.
- BrownBuffalo 13y agoYet, it's still _not_ Canada. I live in Buffalo, and the major reason why I stay here - is because its _not_ Canada. At least the greater GTA (Greater Toronto Area). But I _do_ enjoy visiting ... to the extent I have been known for stretches to be there 10-12 week(ends) in a row visiting friends, eating, exploring, etc. I really do get the SF point of view for sure. But that's a'typical of the tech industry on the whole - I mean its a male dominated industry, and its a rat race down there. I can see how easily jaded an outsider can become. But I do enjoy its Southern California culture, weather, and in particular asians - because of the food/design/culture they bring to the bay area.
- ulfw 13y agoHow's SF 'Southern California'?