Ask HN: If you’ve recently left SF, where and why did you move?

We moved to Portland; we have some family here and wanted a second child (now en route). In the Bay Area we couldn't afford a mortgage on anything with more than one bed one bath. Our apartment was a miserable 800 sqft packed to the gills with stuff; no room for a child to play. We were also stymied by child care, which would have been ~30-35k per child. Here in pdx day care is half that, and we bought a fucking 3 bed 3 bath house with a back yard for 75% of the rent on our 800 sqft SF place.

I moved to Berlin, Germany in mid 2018. Some of the reasons included:

* a studio apartment costing $2100 a month.

* stunted career growth after I reached 'Senior Developer' level.

* had a minor bicycle accident with no broken bones. was taken to Stanford Medical Center hospital, and overall ended up paying over $5000 out-of-pocket after insurance.

* very boring weather (I like and miss storms).

* met only tech folks wherever I went.

* Trump.

I got lucky. I negotiated a relocation package, and ended up transferring within my company.

In Berlin, the culture and quality of life is infinitely superior. I love having the freedom to travel to other European countries. Health insurance is mandatory, and is automatically taken out of my paycheck. I had to make a few doctors visits, and paid nothing out of pocket. A 5 week course of medication cost me €5. Public transportation here is mind-blowingly good (coming from Bay Area). I pay €720 a year, and get unlimited travel on local busses, U/S/R Bahns, trams, and ferries. Plus I get to take +1 after 8pm and on weekends.

The way of living in Berlin is very different. It is taking me some time to get used to it (I miss garbage disposals and Walmart/Safeway/grocery shops open on Sundays). But I moved with an open mind, and absolutely glad I did.

Not sure if this is "recent", but I moved to the midwest during the end of 2015/beginning of 2016 to be with my, now, wife. In the Bay Area, I was getting paid relatively poorly compared to other peers and lived in an area that wasn't the best. I had no real desire to work the startup life like so many other grads; it just kinda happened once I graduated college, so I took the opportunity to check things out. The lack of social connections and not minding what type of job I was working at made it equally as easy to leave.

I now work in a completely different part of tech (from web/mobile SPA dev to embedded dev doing defense work) and make more than I was making in the Bay Area. I live relatively comfortably in a gated community, but I honestly cannot stand the weather here. It is so bad that it is affecting me mentally to the point where I think I have mild Seasonal Affective Disorder. The Bay Area had some financial hardships, but the weather was nice, and I wasn't dreading six months out of the year like I am living here. I was healthier there thanks to always jogging outside in the awesome weather, the scenery was better, the roads were better, the food was nicer, there was more intermixing of different cultures and values... I'm looking to head back to the west coast, or maybe even the southwest, but family reasons are keeping me here for the time being and preventing me from moving.

You didn't really list why you're asking this question. If it's purely monetary-based, sure, you can possibly do better elsewhere. However, I have found that it easily has a hard salary cap real quick. I haven't come across many people who make more than $160k all in after they worked 20+ years in the industry, and the area I live in pays higher than other Midwest areas. Housing prices are quickly getting into the $400k+ for nice houses, and the price of a lot of goods is very similar I have found (most big purchases like laptops, cars, TVs, etc are the same whether you're in CA or in the Midwest. The main difference is the tax. I actually pay more for car insurance here than back in the Bay Area). Utilities are basically the same, it seems, so that didn't go down. Internet price is the same, too, and those cost of living calculators don't always tell the whole story. It's just some stuff to keep in mind if you plan on moving for solely monetary reasons.

A few people I follow have left SF for NYC. I’m curious if anyone on HN has done the same and why.