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Comment by cavisne | Hacker News Reader

It's weird the article conflates "tech" with startups.

Within the next few years Facebook, Google will have huge headquarters (currently under construction or planning) right next to Amazon's collection of buildings in Seattle, and Microsoft near by.

I think the issue startups have in Seattle is they expect to pay less than in SV, because cost of living is cheaper. However with some negotiation the Big 4 will pay you the same as in SV, while paying a quarter of SV rent for a nice apartment with a walking commute.

I guess that lingering smell of urine keeps people coming back to SF?

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Yeah what is a tech company? I here people in Bay Area saying they work in tech all time time. Uber is a transportation company not a technology company. If Uber is a tech company then American Airlines is a tech company too. Both have an app which will let you get on some form of transportation and get one place to another. Boston Dynamics is a technology company for example. They build robots for the sake of building robots and hoping to sell the technology.

Uber is definitely a tech company. They have internal software infrastructure that would rival any other, and attract similar talent as other tech companies. American Airlines is probably as much a tech company as Walmart is...

I'm no fan of Walmart but they do have a research wing and open source contributions as well.

Yeah. You're absolutely right. I suppose working in "tech" is probably a more powerful distinction than working at a "tech company". For instance, if you work on the data science side of a political campaign, it's probably fair to say that you work in "tech".

Walmart Labs is in San Bruno - I believe may also or formerly be in SF :)

I'd buy "quarter of SV rent for a nice apartment" or "a quarter of SV rent for an apartment with a walking commute" but I can't see the walking+1/4+nice all together. But that's splitting hairs, I assume.

Having grown up in Seattle and now working SV, I think the issue is the combination of being too close to SV, and not having the funding.

Obviously NYC has all the money you could need for a startup scene. Whether enough of it is being sent to startups can be argued, but the money is there. That, and it's a massive city near other massive population centers, and nowhere near the Valley. I think proximity to one big "scene" can hurt others.

> I guess that lingering smell of urine keeps people coming back to SF?

That's true. Seattle has the frequent rain to wash smells like that away.

> I guess that lingering smell of urine keeps people coming back to SF?

I like the weather.

Yeah, the weather in Seattle is horrid.. I wish I didn't live here.

Just moved here from Florida... Did not enjoy the winter.

I loved it, snowboarding was 50 minute drive for 9 weeks straight with powder each time this winter. Ooops, us locals aren't actually suppose to mention how good it is up here (in the 80's all week so far)...ooops, did it again.

...

Interestingly, I've heard that Facebook will pay 25% more to work in the Seattle office over the Menlo Park office (say when relocating from Menlo Park).

There are some people who will live cheaper by commuting from the East Bay and pocket more of the money while spending less on rent. It's not all cut and dry.

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