I would try Austin, Texas. The weather is not extremely cold or hot. The cost of living is reasonable. It's not super crowded. And if I lost my job, there's a growing demand for tech workers.
Are there any Austinites that can comment on this?
Are there any Austinites that can comment on this?
The cost of living is okay, though we're one of the fastest growing cities so rents are going up. Right now 2/1 homes built in the 40s and on flood plains will run you over 300k. It's about 200k for a small condo or 500k minimum for a small family home.
While it doesn't feel crowded due to everything being so spread out, the traffic is an absolute bear. My old commute was 3.9 miles and usually took between 45 minutes to an hour by car. I've since moved and started using public transportation (it's fine, but nothing to write home about, though our commuter train is a joke) and it takes as long but at least I can get plenty of reading in. The city is really not friendly to bikers either outside of a few very select areas.
I should also note that North and South Austin do not mix. We're South Dallas to them and they're North Mexico to us. Because of the aforementioned traffic and sprawl you tend to stick to your side of the river. Oh, and because of all the events and conventions that happen here there are just random weeks where everything is confusingly crowded.
That said I do love this city. Tons of culture and awesome food. My partner is always surprised at the variety of things we can do, whether it's queer-friendly indie wrestling matches, or one-off rap musicals, or interactive pop-up art exhibits or boozy morning goat yoga.
If you have to commute it might be tough (number of people here is growing faster than number of roads), but for remote work it's perfectly fine. And when I want to get to downtown, it takes me about the same time it would've taken me in San Jose (and I lived in SJ itself), but unlike SJ there's actually something to do in Austin.
It certainly does get hot here in the summer, but I like that there are seasons here.
Cost of living is significantly better than the Bay Area (and I would argue the quality of life isn't any worse either). And salaries, unless you're aiming for top position at a FANG aren't that much worse.
Also, people are much nicer around here.
You never run out of things to do. The only downside is the traffic going north to south - if you find a place to live close to work you're fine. If you get a house, then later work at the other side of town, you might have to put up with a 1hr commute.