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Comment by flavoie | Hacker News Reader

" Similarly, sub-zero temperatures scare people to warmer areas, leading to a brain drain and serious demand for startup-orientated marketers."

Living in one of the cities, sub-zero might have an impact but I don't think it's the brain drain main reason. For aspiring founder, I think it's more related to insufficient founding. For engineers, I think the very low salaries is more to blame. Even if cost of living is a bit lower, the difference makes no sense at all.

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For aspiring founder, it's both the lack of funding and the lack of enormously abundant talent.

The Bay Area is strange in that well-funded startups can actually hire top talent at below-market rates because quite frankly a ton of these ex-Googlers really have more money than they know what to do with. They just want a new adventure.

It's hard to do a proper comparison of costs unless you're young and single. Consider medical costs (usually, but not always covered by your US employer), and family-related costs (school for kids is the biggest I can think of: private schools and private universities being more expensive in the US).

What's sad is that Canada has a very good public school system all the way from Kindergarten to University. Combined with the lower costs (i.e. free K-12 for these good schools unlike Americans sending kids to private schools) and reduced stress on children due to lack of a standardized university entrance exam, Canada SHOULD be a place where people want to have families.

That being said, I'm a product of the public schooling system in Scarborough/Markham. Which could possibly have the best free public schools in North America.

Same here ! I think we might be from the same school. I grew up my highschool in Scarborough.

Markham yes .. but Scarborough having the best schools?? Which one? George S Henry in North York was pretty awesome.

Agincourt, oldest :-)

I know few Campbell guys

Agincourt grad here.

The salaries in Toronto in particular are quite low in comparison to other places. Especially in larger companies that don't have technology as a focus, but as a requirement.

A lot of places pay easily ~ 60% to 80% of market average, and ~ 30% to 60% of market peak.

With any student loans that puts you at paycheck to paycheck if you want to rent an apartment, take transit, eat healthy, wear new clothing, get a decent haircut regularly, buy a computer/parts/software once in a while, and socialize. I'm not saying one needs all of these all of the time, but it's a typical adult lifestyle to do so.

You mean people who have lived with that weather all their lives aren't moving to another country (will all the associated pain) just to avoid it?

But that theory made so much sense!

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