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Wellington City has 207,000 people. Which US tech hub could it be compared to?

That's kind of my point! The arbitrage of working for a company in a US tech hub while living outside of a US tech hub. It could be done living domestically here too, but abroad is more interesting. (However, given the discussion, maybe this is just a case of "the grass is always greener on the other side".)

I am not being clear. Why live in an NZ city of 200,000 when you could live in an American one of the same size and enjoy a lower cost of living, and cheaper rent?

I don't think one can find the same quality of life in a comparable US city for a lower cost of living.

Portland, Oregon might be the closest counterexample that comes to mind, but it is an order of magnitude bigger — population of the greater metropolitan area is 2.4 million.

There is a fair amount of inexpensive housing here but not in areas with the same cultural values. (Perhaps Wellingotn wasn't the best example, but it's in the only NZ city I've been to firsthand.)

Feel free to shoot me an email (in profile) if you'd like to discuss more.

You're not going to find anything near as beautiful in the US for a decent cost of living. I would move to Wellington in a heartbeat if I could. Imagine San Francisco without all the traffic and homelessness.

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