Ask HN: What do geeks in Palo Alto do on weekend nights?
How do you (or do you) socialize? What do _most_ do?
Yes I realize that geeks are normal people too. But lets not kid ourselves... they aren't.
Yes I realize that geeks are normal people too. But lets not kid ourselves... they aren't.
The upside is that the city is only 40 minutes away; the downside is that SF tends to be kind of a black hole for culture, sucking everything cool into the city limits and leaving the south bay with all the strip malls, supermarkets, and car dealerships.
If you're going to school or working a startup, it can be survivable. There are enough coffee shops, cafes, and restaurants around downtown Palo Alto to let you pass a lazy Sunday afternoon pleasantly enough, and the occasional trip to SF by car (or by train, with a hotel stay in the middle) helps to alleviate the boredom.
Fortunately, the AC Transit 8xx bus lines run from the Transbay Terminal in the city along East Bay BART routes after BART shuts down and leave every hour (and every half hour for awhile on weekend nights.)
There are SamTrans buses that take you between the city and Palo Alto after Caltrain shuts down but they leave every hour and take a couple of hours for the trip.
I've lived in San Francisco for 4.5yrs and sometimes I feel lost for interesting places to hang out in the evenings here in The City.
I'm not really interested in the pretentious hipster scene bars of Mission, I don't like the LA-wannabe scene of Marina and most of SoMa's clubs cater for East Bay bridge and tunnel crowd (before you think I'm being snobby I find the East Bay crowd unfriendly to city living folks, and all of the violet situations I've witnessed in clubs/bars have been from East Bay types. We're not talking Berkeley types but the more 'heavier' Oakland/Freemont/Hayward scene).
And everything closes at 2am (although granted, that's a CA-wide policy).
I guess I say all of the above with the disclosure that I'm a native of London, a 24/7 city with more bars and clubs than you could visit in a year.
The "real" SF resides pretty much in the Tenderloin - Nob Bill - Chinatown - City Lights triangle these days, I find. There are also pockets of civilization out in the "lost" neighborhoods: Cafe Du Mond; the Rite Spot; Amnesia on Valencia; and (yes) the Utah Bar, as well as a few others too cool to name here.
But the main thing is that wherever you go, there you, umm, are. Ultimately you have to decide to be happy with your surroundings -- or decide to change them.
I think in SF/Oakland/Alameda it's pretty easy to concentrate on the positives. The South Bay and the Peninsula are pretty much lost causes, though.
Then again, if you have someone to hang with, all these awesome Open Space Preserves makes for great hiking/biking. My favorite is Astradero just because its a 5 min drive from my house.
I worked on an acquired events-related startup, and when we lived in the South Bay, none of us went to any events.
Although SF is tantalizingly close, it is always too much of a hassle when you factor in transportation or parking.
That's one of the perks of being a young, single web entrepreneur living in a time of global English, wifi, and cheap airfare--I can live and work wherever I want :)
Edit: for a map of some places I've been, check out my company's web site: http://turkeysandwichindustries.com
May I ask how you're organizing the practicalities of accomodation and food, and how much you're spending compared to at home?
How do you find a place to stay? Do you rent an apt for a set time, like a month and then book something else somewhere else at the end of your stay? What are your expenses on a monthly basis +-?
Since I rent rooms in apartments they usually have their own kitchens. I cook for myself or go out with friends to eat.
The rent varies greatly from place to place. I've been told by many that Munich is the most expensive city in Germany. I rented a big room in a rather small apartment in a great part of town (next to Ostbahnhof) for 150 euro a week with one roommate That seems to be about the right price based on the other offers I found. In Belgium, I lived in a small town just south of Brussels. I rented a room from a retired couple who lived in a 3-story country house with a huge, beautiful garden and massive kitchen for 100 euro per week. They were frequently gone so I had the house to myself. In London there's a website called Gumtree that's like Craigslist. I found a room for 160 pounds per week. It was much harder finding a room in London than anywhere else because everything is outrageously expensive and everyone seems to want a minimum 6 month stay (I'm only here for 3 weeks).
In Belgium you can get a bottle of 12% Trappist for ~2 euro; in Germany a liter of beer for ~6 euro and a pint for ~3 euro; in England a pint for ~3 pounds. Food at the grocery seemed cheapest in Germany, where I never found myself spending more than 15 euro in one visit that would last me a few days of eating well.
So, after you convert euros and pounds to dollars, you can see that it varies a lot. In England in particular the conversion rate is killer--something like 1.6 dollars to a pound right now.
My advice would be if you really want to do some long term travel, just buy your ticket and do it. It's really extremely easy to figure things out once you arrive somewhere. You can email me at my username at ucla.edu if you want any more info.
I'm lucky in that my work schedule is flexible, so I get to/from the office in 35-45 minutes. Much better than the 2-hour train/light rail commute would be.
I agree with one of the other posters that the best places to hang out seem to be in and around the Tenderloin, Nob Hill, etc. I do enjoy the Mission as well, but that's a little farther for me, and I prefer to walk places when I can. SoMa is kinda eh, North Beach is a wasteland, Marina... not so much.
Basically though, I think the bar scene here blows. It's cool that a lot of the food places are open late on University though.
That being said, while I think long commutes generally suck the life out of people, I'm seriously thinking about moving to Noe Valley or the Mission and commuting on the 280.
Anyways, I'm up for doing stuff if anybody here wants to. I still don't really know anyone in this area.
The fact that live music is pretty much non-existant in this area is sort of a bummer as well.
* Hacker Dojo - almost always something interesting going on. Highly recommended.
* Bars - Rose & Crown or the Nut House.
* Watch a limited release film at Aquarius or CineArts.
* A lazy afternoon drinking wine at Vino Locale followed by dinner out at a nice restaurant.
* Board games, poker, or whatever with friends.
* Chill out by the pool at a friend's apartment complex.
etc.
Anyone interested in opening a hacker friendly bar that's open late and has coffee/wifi during the day?
Edit: I'm actually quite serious. I have restaurant experience and it sure as shit seems like its in need. Anyone at all interested should drop me a line!
Better just stay home and code and drink a beer. I meet my friends at coffee places (Red Rock in MV., or Coupa Cafe in PA).
Once you get married and have kid, move to the Peninsula and wonder how anyone could ever enjoy living in the City.
All the single girls are either in SF or work for Google, so you know what to do.
Other times I'll drive up to the city. When I lived in Mountain View I used to occasionally get a hotel room in the financial district - $70 on Priceline for a 4* hotel. Now I'm in San Carlos it's only a 20 minute drive to SOMA which is great, or otherwise 40 min by train.
For Heavens sake, someone open up a bar for these guys and don't charge a cover for women!
Illinois gets it. California doesn't. Way to be the state with the stick up your butt again, CA.
Regardless of whether it should be legal or not, "positive discrimination" is still discrimination.
Also, a bunch of random stuff happens at Stanford now and then, if you're into things like http://slork.stanford.edu/
* Happy Donuts on El Camino, which is open 24/7 and often is filled with geeks coding at all hours. Lots of people are happy to talk and socialize / be engaged in conversation.
* The downtown PA bar scene: Rose and Crown & Rudy's are probably the most geek-friendly. Old Pro is ok if you're also into sports. Blue Chalk & Nola can be good hangout spots but I wouldn't label either of them first choices.
* California Avenue has Antonio's Nut House. Lots of notable geeks can be seen there. I heard [redacted] was mobbed the last time he went in.
Going to San Francisco sucks unless you already know where you can sleep. I recommend making friends with some local residents and crashing with them after going out (with them). I actually met a dude on HN and we've been out partying in SF a few times; I crashed on his couch a couple times and it's been real sweet.
I also recommend Hacker Dojo, which is open late if you're a member, or 'til 10 if you're a guest, and they've been having some nighttime weekend talks recently.
Finally, I recently moved back to the area after growing up here, and would like to make some more friends, especially tech & business minded people. Contact information is in my profile. I would love to buy you the drink of your choice at any of the above-mentioned venues and hear about what you're working on.
mountain view has the movie theater, which is basically next to google. mountain view also castro street, with the red rock cafe, lots of good little restaurants, and some night life.
Paul Graham's essay on "Where to See Silicon Valley" is a valuable primer for anyone not familiar with the area. A must-read for anyone that wants to "get" the area: http://www.paulgraham.com/seesv.html
The two tips I personally found the most useful:
* Red Rock is a great place to meet other people working on start-ups.
* Taking the 280 between Silicon Valley and San Francisco is infinitely more scenic than taking the 101. Plus, you can avoid the 101's frequent airport traffic.