As someone who have no idea what this refers to (I'm not from the US [I'm assuming East/West coast here refer to the coast's of USA]), could you expand on what this means in reality?
East coasters believe themselves to be more realistic and pragmatic than west coasters, I often hear things like "oh yeah that's just a pipe dream that's not how real business is done", or "They're not thinking it through, I have x years of experience, and can tell you it can't be done". The worst part is that it has morphed into a bit of a superiority complex that dismisses innovation. There's just a lack of interest in trying to improve/change procedures because people feel so caught up in putting out fires and being busy in an attempt to look productive. It's absurd. And extends all the way to benign things like dress code. People are afraid to wear jeans at work because it might look "unprofessional" or like they're not working as hard as people who wear 'business' attire.
Yes I said dress code... I just left a job because of this exact old school east coast culture. The tipping point for me was that I received an email that was titled "Jeans in Jeopardy". Unless 90% of people or something donated to the cause we were going to loose our month of permission to wear jeans. I found that email patronizing and down right insulting and decided right then and there that I was leaving. If you trust me to write software that is handling business critical procedures... why don't you trust me to dress appropriately in the office? You can have you're dress code, I'm going to spend my time thinking about software instead of dry cleaning my shirt and pants every day.
That just sounds like a bad company, not an east coast problem. I've worked at two NYC trading firms, and the typical attire is shorts and sandals.
Is this the case in tech jobs?
In ~15 years of working in tech companies I don’t think I’ve ever not worn jeans; I reserve not wearing jeans largely for weddings and funerals.
But I think a lot of the difference is self-fulfilling. If you grow up in one place and don't like it, you move. I grew up in a rural town, very conservative. I went to a local university. My first jobs were in the area. And I couldn't stand it. I eventually found out that, if you're uncomfortable with casual racism and anti-intellectualism, you just move away. Certainly the same thing happens in other areas, for anyone moving away from their local "culture". For me, that move was only 2 hours away to Northern Virginia, where I can still see my family, make it out to the public nature reserves I grew up with, don't have to sell my collection of guns, everyone has a degree, and people hide their casual racism a little better.
Don't get me wrong, there is shit I can't stand about this place either. But that's every place. I can ignore the problems of here a little better than the problems of back home. For whatever reason, I find it easier to ignore elitists who look down on folks for having "only" a Bachelor's degree than I can ignore luddites who feel threatened by folks who went to college at all.
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-major-cultural-difference...
Edit: these are opinions outside of the context of software development companies.
That quora answer was a little uncivil, but not directed at any individuals. Similarly I don’t intend my sharing of it to be an attack on peers. If I’m being told I’m somehow at fault for sharing my thoughts when asked, isn’t that kind of validating my point of view?
West Coast business interpersonal style is affirmational consensus to protect its “California dreamin’” brand.
Of course there are communal collectivist companies in Brooklyn and radical candor competitors in San Diego, but overall the two styles are different enough it can be difficult to integrate as a transplant.
// Disclaimer: bi-coastal tech entrepreneur since mid-90’s
Same contrasts between 150 year old banks, or between 150 day old startups.
// “The walls smell of Slack DMs and conflict avoidance.” — https://aphyr.com/posts/342-typing-the-technical-interview