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Comment by chrisper | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, same. I live in San Jose and feel 100% like you. I haven't even worked yet and only went to school here and I am already exhausted.

This is why I chose not to live here after graduation.

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The crazy part about it is it's just going to get worse and worse. I was born and raised in SJ... since the 80s this tech stuff has been slowly building on top of itself like some sort of tumor, and the city does absolutely nothing to stop the gentrification and overall shittyness of the money-money-money mindset from taking over. I'm 23 now, most of my friends and 100% of my parents friends (lived there since the 60s) have moved out because of the constant influx of migrant workaholics.

It's given me a very cynical view on life. I really don't know where else to move, I feel like I need to leave the country as well, or at least leave California. Where are you going, if you don't mind me asking?

I am moving (back) to Europe (Germany). I have a European Passport, so I don't have to worry about a visa, like I would have to if I decided to stay here.

Ah, interesting. I'm German too. Unfortunately all my ties to Germany have been severed when my Oma died.

Come to Berlin, the startup scene is great by european standards, the city is cheap and super diverse. Great food, great nightlife but cold winters ;)

I felt the same way after living in SF for 6 years. I moved up to Portland, though they probably find me to be an annoying migrant too :/

FWIW, it's not the "migrant" part in itself that irritates me. It's the whole thing, "migrant workaholics". I hate the people who moved to my hometown for the sole reason to make money and go back to their home country, with no intention to integrate.

If you get exhausted by working a lot, it's probably best to not work at a small startup or a company that is growing super fast. There are larger (usually public) companies in the Bay Area where people can work 9-6 type jobs and be great at their jobs. It can be team dependent, but there are people who work totally normal hours at google, apple, linkedin, etc. There are a lot of other mature companies people work at as well. It's not as sexy to say you work for them, but they pay you a respectable salary and don't have to take over your life. That said, ANY job can take over your life if you let it, whether that job is in Portland, Austin, Chicago, or San Francisco (not that it is necessarily a bad thing to have your job be your life).

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