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Comment by seizethecheese | Hacker News Reader

Seattle has one of the lowest amounts of sun per year of all metros in the USA. It selects for those who are serious about work, more than weather.

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The weather isn't that bad here. It's overcast a lot and there are a lot of "rainy" days but it's usually a light mist or sprinkle. It rarely drops below freezing in the winter and the summers, while short, have long days and are quite dry. Maybe the bay area has better weather but I'd take Seattle weather over most of the US (Chicago, Austin, NY, DC, etc)

I will take my Southern Cali weather - 75 and sunny all year round.

Perhaps this is because I am from California, but having lived in Seattle for the last 3 years, the hardest part isn't the rain or cold but the lack of sun.

My previous manager at Amazon told me he recommended everyone who came from California to take a vacation back during the winter lest they get too depressed.

> It selects for those who are serious about work, more than weather.

Uhhh, Seattle, Portland, and the rest of the PNW have some of the most outdoorsy people in the country. We're less than 2 hours from the ocean or the mountains.

eh. But also filters people who are serious about work but also serious about their mental health.

I know myself well enough to know that I am less productive when I don't get sunlight. I suspect many other people are the same.

The results of Seattle area companies beg to differ. I live in Seattle and I find that if I walk outdoors during the day at least once per day, I'm fine.

What does mental health of people living there have to do with the success of a few companies?

There are successful companies that eat their workers alive, employee happiness isn't related with their success in a lot of cases.

Tech companies can only produce what their employees output. If people were so miserable in Seattle there's no way that any company based there would thrive enough to be a top company in the world.

I used to live in Seattle and that was a major contributing factor that caused me to move to Atlanta.

Seattle isn't going to suffer a fresh-water shortage any time soon, either.

You would think, but just because it frequently rains doesn't mean it is all captured and can be treated for use. In the late 80s there were water shortages in King County.

There's a wide gulf between what can be captured and what is being captured.

I guarantee you anyone with a roof and a rain barrel is not hurting for water for their plants.

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