Hacker News Reader

Comment by outworlder | Hacker News Reader

> a country that is fun and comfortable and safe to live in

I think Portugal is fun, comfortable and safe. It is a fantastic place if you want to visit.

Living there can be an issue. One of the problems, as another comment says, is that salaries are really low. That's probably compounded by the amount of bureaucracy one needs to wade through to do anything, and the overall 'old school' thinking of folks.

Generalizing(perhaps unfairly), the Portuguese seem to look fondly at the rear view mirror, but more progressive ideas are not viewed in the same light.

You would probably see more people staying if they had a space for their ideas, and a living wage.

View on HN

My friend created a tech company there because salaries are low. He employs a dozen capable smart professionals. He pays them well for the local economy and arbitrage of tech works means he’s able to offer low rates and high quality on the international market. He’s a rich expat gobbling up a housing unit but also creating jobs. It’s probably a net win for the locals.

A cool policy would be every newcomer has to construct (or cause to be constructed) at least one housing unit. If that was a condition of the golden visa everyone would do it and the benefits would be in injecting significant additional supply into the local rental and real estate market preventing supply and demand from raising housing costs.

The US investor visas get abused by elites building their own apartments as "economic development".

I've been to Portugal and it's lovely. But I don't think earning a low salary and not having enough is fun. Wouldn't be for me, at least.

> That's probably compounded by the amount of bureaucracy one needs to wade through to do anything

That does not sound like the description of a "fun" or "comfortable" country to live in. :-(

> I think Portugal is fun, comfortable and safe.

Yeah, apart from the pickpockets in Lisboa. They are really the most brazen I have ever seen anywhere. They don't seem dangerous, but constantly having someone trying to pick a wallet from your bag is pretty annoying.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com