Ask HN: Thinking of Moving to the Bay. Beach Areas?
I'm thinking of moving to the bay area. Anyone know what it's like to live in the beach areas like Santa Cruz or Half Moon Bay? Is it close enough to the tech scene to make sense?
If you are hoping to start a company or join a startup, I would try and live as close to the other founders as possible. If you are hoping for a 9-5 type job and don't mind sitting in the car listening to music or talking on the phone, then the longer drives might be worth it.
(If you can't tell, I'm hoping to find something near the surf.)
You might try padmapper to get a sense of what things cost to rent by area in SF. You can always guess a location, find a job, and then move later once you have more first hand experience with the location.
I personally like the mid Peninsula. It is warmer and sunnier year round than SF and centrally located for work in the north and south bay so I don't have to move around so much. Most of my single friends prefer to live in SF.
There are a ton of kite surfers and wind surfers in the bay and on the north edge of the city if you are in to that sort of thing.