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Comment by reno9111 | Hacker News Reader

This is so silly. Denver, Austin, San Diego, Atlanta etc. are fine cities with vibrant urban cores full of culture and entertainment yet none of them require you to pay 3000$/mo for a decent apartment or pay millions to buy a low tier home. There is a mass delusion that SF/SV and NYC residents seem to have that it is impossible to match their lifestyles without paying astronomical numbers for housing and its just absurd.

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> There is a mass delusion that SF/SV and NYC residents seem to have that it is impossible to match their lifestyles without paying astronomical numbers for housing and its just absurd.

It's not a delusion. Sure, if you find the culture, entertainment, and other lifestyle features of Denver, Austin, San Diego, or Atlanta an acceptable substitute for NYC or SF Bay Area lifestyle, you can get that substitute a bit cheaper. Not everyone does (if they did, Bay Area and NYC prices would drop and those other places would climb.)

The culture and entertainment of the Bay Area is overrated compared to other metros. Everything closes early for some unfathomable reason. I'd say most transplants are there for the tech money. Good food scene, though.

> The culture and entertainment of the Bay Area is overrated compared to other metros.

“Overrated” just means other people value it more than you do. But you should be happy, because that presents an opportunity you can exploit by satisfying your preferences more cheaply elsewhere.

Certainly. It is mostly the Bay Area native in me who is jaded. Familiarity does breed contempt.

I have to agree there about cultural attractions; if you want world-class museums, for instance, you'll find them in NYC and DC. You won't find them on the west coast.

there are lots of aspects of bay area culture that are not found in quantity in pretty much any other city in the country except NYC.

Really? Seattle, Portland, Austin, LA all have aspects of Bay Area culture. What they lack is the weather, and perhaps the tech culture if that’s what you’re talking about. Maybe some regional specific demographics like SF’s LGBT community.

sure they do and there is a lot of interchange (less so austin). But yes I am referring to regional specific demographics and subcultures which SF has a much higher per capita population of than almost any other city. Seattle and portland feel sooooo small compared to the bay and while LA definitely does not it has its own set of challenges.

Austin lacks the public transportation, bike infrastructure, and arts culture of all of these cities, along with what you’ve said. It’s more dense than most places in the south, but I could never realize the dream of being car-less there. Having to drive to social functions is probably the biggest differentiating factor, in my mind, between expensive coastal cities and cheap southern cities.

I think I meant the progressive/liberal/weirdness of the Bay Area. South Bay/Silicon Valley has pretty weak public transportation and art compared to SF, as it is.

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