Ask HN: If not San Francisco then where? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: If not San Francisco then where?

3 pointsnerder927 comments

Here on HN is not that unusual that a post about how dystropian or just how a very bad living option is San Francisco has become over the last decade. I was planning to move there from Barcelona over the course of the next year, but i'm seriously starting to think it might not be a so good option. As many others (especially living in EU) I have idealized San Francisco as the place to be if you are a techy with an entrepreneurial actitude. The place in which ideas flows and interesting conversation are happening, where artists and creativiy are perfectly combined with the technolgy and innovators.

So if not there anymore, then where?

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Nerd wallet did a study on tech hubs that might be interesting to you (https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/best-places-for...)

Personally, I get up to the bay area often enough, and while I think its fine, I'd recommend looking into other cities if you are trying to do "entrepreneurial" things. (maybe go raise some money in the bay area if VC is something you need).

Have you actually stayed in SF for longer than a week? Not intended as snark; the media and the experience are different. I've lived in the USA for a long time. The SF Bay Area has really good PR.

On some level you have it really good in Spain. People value quality of life, so it is easier to enjoy a life of quality. Anywhere in the USA you will pay much more for much worse food. People enable each other's addictions to working jobs. There are fewer "just because" gardens. People are uptight about punctuality and they also show up to your parties exactly on time. The restaurants all close before midnight. People are weird about sex. Health problems can literally make you homeless if your support network is not good. Generations do not interact very much. Riding a motorcycle or bicycle in cities is much more dangerous because there are more cars driving faster on wider roads. And more!

Like, the material quality of life in Spain is what one aspires to in SF after making "fuck you money". The reason one doesn't move from SF to Spain is because one only speaks English, or because one is buried under student and medical debts. If you can meet people that share your goals, maybe try making the changes happen at home?

For reference I've lived in the USA NYC, SF, LA, Texas, Boston, some rural places you don't know, and Southern China. Moving to Spain or Uruguay is my medium term goal after learning the language and being finished with caring for aging parents.

I'm in SF at the moment as part of my internship and I've found the place to be welcoming to me, and the connections between companies is true so the networking opportunities are absolutely real. Unfortunately so too are the problems with homelessness, drugs and mental health. I've seen a woman nearly punch a window out because she got angry at her reflection while tweaking out on something.

I'd say the reports of San Francisco being a dystopian hellhole are rather exaggerated. It's a lovely city. We get similar complaints about Seattle, and I can confirm that it is also not nearly as interesting as the sensationalized reporting pretends it is. Rent isn't cheap, but that's because people WANT to live in these places.

Where do you live?

I live in Seattle. I used to live in California. I’ve spent a lot of time in SF and have quite a few friends who live there.

A couple other United States tech hubs on the rise that I would recommend checking out include (in order of preference): Los Angeles, CA, Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, and Chicago, IL.

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