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Comment by chrismckleroy | Hacker News Reader

“Better weather” I can’t help but laugh. One of five Mediterranean climates worldwide, built on apricot orchards, formerly home to one of the most diverse animal and again ecosystems before the arrival of whites. It’s really hard to beat the weather in Silicon Valley. It’s almost non seasonal, anything grows. The diversity currently of this area is very high, it’s the home of top universities, between the two cross pollination of ideas happens non stop. As a “tech person” who lived in 10 years, and just moved away in March, well, it’s nice to move away, but damn, miss the weather.

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I think California has created this myth that constant sunshine = perfect weather. I personally like things like summer thunderstorms, snowy winters, mild cloudy days, and rain. It's definitely not bad weather, but the lack of variety and endless dry smoggy summer months can get pretty old.

I definitely agree with you. I don’t like the Bay Area’s weather and much prefer that of the Midwest and Northeast where you fully experience all four seasons. I like hot summers and winters full of snow. Even within CA I’d prefer the weather of LA over that of the Bay Area. SF in particular had very depressing and disappointing weather for me — uniformly chilly and overcast most of the time.

The myth is from people that moved to California from other states. I moved from the the midwest to Southern California. I can't see myself going back to harsh winters and extreme summers. My overall well being has increased and the sunny days helpf with consistent mood levels. This is coming from someone who loved the four seasons and claimed they were required. I realized that humans populate most climates in the world and there isn't one size fits all.

Same here. I like the "idea" of four seasons. But after living in socal, I discovered I really only need a few days a year of the cold wintery weather. And then I'm over it. I get that from travel. Not to mention how summers are so much hotter in the Midwest and south.

Mid 70s and sunny is hard to beat. It's like an eternal spring.

Yeah, definitely agree there, my enjoyment of winter lasts all of about a few weeks. There's no perfect climate, and if you do winter sports or something more power to you, but after the beautiful snow, when you have to deal with slush and road salt, I could do with skipping from like, Jan 1 to Apr 1.

There is a place where you can have seasons, yet they are mild. And there is a reasonable cost of living, if you so choose. And it has public transportation, which is not ideal but better that many other US cities. And it has a huge number of software jobs, an educated populace, and culture. Washington, DC

Isn't D.C. really humid? It was built on a swamp, after all.

Yes, that's the one thing you can't minimize or bargain away.

I think that's a personal thing; I found eternal spring pretty boring. It's not objectionable, certainly. It's just kinda meh. Don't get me wrong, you can get far far worse but I'd rather have seasons.

You can very much have four seasons without harsh winters and extreme summers though - you can just have regular winters and lovely summers.

I thought I wanted four seasons when I first moved here, but after a few years I found a short trip to Tahoe quenched my entire desire for winter in a week or less, and I was glad to come back to no snow to shovel. I can't imagine going back to the northeast, and I would melt in the south.

Snowy winters is a nice idea when you can sip a warm drink cozied up inside and play winter sports.

When you have to shovel the drive way twice a day and five minutes later the city snow plow throws half frozen slush on your drive way, you start to crave a warmer climate.

If you're shoveling twice a day, you should consider doing as they do in Alaska and simply stop shoveling it. Drive on the snow if it's snowing so much that you have to shovel twice a day.

What surprised me the most about SV's weather is how it affected my perception of time. Without the slow rhythm of the changing seasons, ten years passed in an uncertain blur. I find it very hard to place memories in any given time.

Maybe that's just an effect of getting older. I just moved away to a place with four seasons again, so we'll see!

I guess that may depend a lot on where you started from. I've lived in Hong Kong and then grew up in Florida, went to school in New England, and then lived in Texas for a while before moving to the Bay Area. The Bay Area weather is insanely good by comparison. The general trends are so stable and predictable. It's nice temperate and dry most of the year. I used to be a pretty avid runner. I went to visit my buddy in Houston and we went running. I had to stop after 3 miles (I normally run 5 to 10 miles in the morning) because it was so hot and humid. It made me really respect people who exercise in areas where the weather isn't so amendable to outdoor activities.

(Updated: I just read all the sibling comments. We are nearly all from other states and have now all become huge weather weaklings from living in CA!)

It's rarely unreasonably cold or unreasonably humid and hot.

And almost everywhere else has large numbers of days where one of the above is true.

Sure, it would be neat if we could have one snowy day a year and a summer thunderstorm or two, too.

It's a not a myth if you're in the SF Bay Area. Other parts of CA are terrible. As you've pointed out it's both smoggy and hot. Coming from FL where there are only two seasons, I call Bay Area's weather "air conditioning" weather. It feels like you're in a really nice climate controlled building, but outside with sun. That said, it's not going to last with climate change. Air quality is already taking a beating with all the forest fires, and it's getting hotter and hotter. Pretty soon, it'll be no different from what people think of today as SoCal weather.

The weather in SF is boring. Seasons are much better. I like cold winter, fall, warm spring and hot summers.

I moved to SoCal from New England, and I miss the weather there so much! I don't hate 70s and sunny, but I genuinely miss thunderstorms, clouds giving way to downpours, the quiet after fresh snowfall, the shock of stepping outside on a winter's day, the glee and madness of watching hail suddenly fall on a spring day.

Comparing that to not being able to work outside because the state is on fire and the air quality has been before recommended levels for a week is not my favorite tradeoff.

To each their own I guess. We'll gladly take the "boring" year-round spring over harsh winter (-30/40 windchill, hazardous winter driving, etc).

Yeah, that one didn't make sense to me either. Lived in Oregon for the last... oh, wow, times flies... 30 years and I'd never consider moving back to the Bay Area. Except, if suddenly there were about 1/2 the people there and housing prices somehow went to reasonable levels. The weather is generally so pleasant there.

> anything grows

I'm a gardener. Wherever I go I grow a garden. When I lived in the South Bay the soil in our backyard was AMAZING. Never seen soil like that anywhere else. You didn't have to do much of anything to grow stuff. It was easy to dig. It was like it was loam all the way down. So yes, the climate plays a big part of that 'anything grows', but so does the soil there which is exceptional.

"Better"'s subjective - some people prefer extreme seasons (Midwest), 4 distinct seasons (East coast), 50s year-round (Northwest/SF), or sunny/70s most of the year (Miami? LA? Texas? Not a lot of experience personally).

Miami/LA/Texas more like 90's most of the year

At least in Austin and North of there, you start seeing 90s in April but average temperature of 90F+ is Jun-September. https://weatherspark.com/y/8004/Average-Weather-in-Austin-Te... I can't speak for South Texas as I am unfamiliar with the climate beyond some occasional visits.

Sheesh, I would melt - I'm a "4 reasonable seasons" person myself.

Unless you are very inland LA is not 90s most of the year. Heck, it’s not even 80s most of the year. It’s 70s.

Not sure about Texas[0], but LA is definitely way less humid than South Florida. Don't know too many people who actively like humidity at high temps. Some may not mind it. But those who hate it, like myself, just can't stand it.

I generally hate most warm climates because they tend to be humid. LA was very nice. The nicest climate I've experienced so far. Haven't been to Northern California though (I imagine it's roughly the same but cooler, so may like it more).

[0] seems like the problem there is it gets much cooler at night, more intraday variation.

Perhaps you're talking about the east or south bay, but SF proper has awful weather. Moved there from NYC expecting the climate you describe only to find rugged and overcast weather year around. Moved to Los Angeles after a year and can say with 100% conviction that the weather here is categorically better.

I don't mind the SF weather for the most part. (I've never lived there but have spent a lot of time.) But it can definitely have "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco" thing go on.

Yeah SF itself has rubbish weather. SoCal is most definitely where the good weather is.

San Diego and Los Angeles offer much better weather.

Especially on the coast. 100% agree.

I've had months and months of continuous rain in the Bay, something I never witnessed when living down South. It's cheaper too. Much much much MUCH more diverse. And food's better as is the landscape.

Ya, anytime I'm in the bay area, it seems to frequently be very cold and rainy. It really doesn't get that cold in socal.

... have you been to the Bay Area in the last 8 years? I wish we had even a week of continuous rain.

Only to visit. So, no. I moved away years ago. Couldn't stand the place. Nothing but work work work. And living in between nothing but office parks loses it's allure after a few years.

But I've had my fair share of multi-month El Ninos.

Sure, but So Cal has higher levels of air pollution, and never enduring cold weather is probably not good for your health in the long term.

People used to travel. In the old days. Before Covid.

Never did I say one should move to LA and never ever leave town. One can go skiing (nearby even!) or enjoy any kind of weather elsewhere.

Hard agree. I've told many people that the only thing that's not overrated about the Bay Area is the weather.

The weather is also overrated. SF weather in particular is boring and sucks!

Isn't this very subjective? One person's "hard to beat weather" is another person's hell on earth. I personally hate heat and sun so I want to live somewhere where it is cool and cloudy the majority of the year. That is my idea of hard to beat weather. For other people that probably sounds terrible.

> It’s almost non seasonal

You've just described why I don't like Silicon Valley weather, though indeed the easy and plentiful agriculture is a nice aspect aside from the scarcity of water which often ends up prioritizing farmers of things like almonds over actual residents. Where I live now, I get to enjoy all four seasons and don't have to consider water as a locally scarce resource.

A lot of people mistakenly drive North and don't realize how dreadful Oregon and Washington are. It's 10 times worse than anyone thinks on your actual mood. Reading a number of sunny days per year on city data doesn't do it justice. I recommend people move either to Arizona or tornado alley (if you're not worried about them).

Map of Köppen climate classification, "hot dry-summer" climates and "cool dry-summer" climates referred to as "Mediterranean"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_climate

> The diversity currently of this area is very high, it’s the home of top universities, between the two cross pollination of ideas happens non stop.

This is sort of the argument that management gives to having people in the office.

People need to be at a physical location together for cross-pollination and idea growth.

Where did you move too of curiosity

> before the arrival of whites.

Jesus, bro, why'd you throw this in?

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