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Comment by yunohn | Hacker News Reader

I mean, being forced to move is bad enough, but Arkansas? That’s a tough one for someone in tech I feel.

Going to chime in. Young(ish) person in tech. Have heard nothing but great things about Bentonville. I'm into mountain biking and the city is like a spiderweb of awesome looking biking/walking trails built by the Waltons.

It's great until you find yourself looking for another tech job, particularly with another RTO company.

Yeah but I imagine CTOs of fortune 50 companies are paid more than enough to relocate and probably have a golden parachute package that more than compensates for any relo costs and job search time.

I haven't work with Cheryl for probably 15 years now, but at the time her family was very important to her and I don't imagine that has changed. There are more than just monetary costs for relocating.

Ok, I'm speaking to the parent comment about looking for another job. Of course there are always reasons not to move somewhere specifically, but the vast majority of executives in the world are required to work at their companies headquarters, wherever that may be. And all of the largest companies pay executives handsomely. More than enough to make up for cost of relocation or time lost to job searching.

Relocating isn't just about cost. There's schools, friends, other support systems, general familiarity with the area. It's not easy to just pick up an relocate, and not from a financial point of view.

She has probably gotten accustomed to living somewhere where you can comfortably be outside more than 4 months out of the year. Or, you know, maybe she doesn't want to move her family across the country.

I think the implication was that the majority of the demographic will find a deep red state governor a non-starter. Perks of a given city aside, for decades their tax dollars will get thrown away fighting causes like trans rights, same as with all the losing battles against civil rights, interracial marriage, gay marriage, heavy metal, video games, etc.

That's an interesting objection so I asked ChatGPT to clarify:

California Attorney General's Office (2024-25 Budget): $1.28 billion total

California per capita spending: Approximately $32.92 per person, based on a population of 39 million.

Arkansas Attorney General's Office (2024 Budget): $36 million total.

Arkansas per capita spending: Approximately $12 per person, based on a population of 3 million.

As an avid mountain biker and having been to bentonville twice, the trails are just ok. Immaculately maintained and there are some neat features, but the hills there are seriously lacking elevation.

The small downtown area of bentonville is neat, but the greater area is… meh.

I’m in tech and have a daughter and the states policies when it comes to women’s healthcare would be a turn off. I’m not sure there is an amount of money one could pay me to live in Arkansas of all places.

Especially if moving from California. California has its share of problems but those complaining may not realize how good they have it until they try living somewhere else with totally different values.

Having been to AK, all I can say is it's a toilet. I wouldn't ever want to suffer living there. Only MS is worse in my estimation.

AK is Alaska. Arkansas is AR.

Apologies to all Alaskans (expect Palin).

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

At least Mississippi has some coastline. Also, it's close to some interesting places: the northern part of MS is close to Memphis, and (even better) the southern part of MS is close to New Orleans.

Yeah especially because it’s a “company town” feels like putting literally all your eggs in the Walmart basket.

Both JB Hunt and Tyson Foods are nearby. Both very large Fortune 500 companies. Lots of smaller companies that work with Walmart have offices there, too.

And as others have said, it's mountain bike heaven. Super low cost of living, too.

Not my thing and I wouldn't move there, but for some folks it's very attractive.

This still sounds like a "Walmart" company town

Two companies does not a lot of options make.

If they're not looking for tech that week then you're out of luck. Plus neither has much of a reputation for running 'labs'.

Smaller companies affiliated w/ WM may not have much to offer, esp. if you want to get away from that world or do something different.

Depends on the person. Northwest arkansas is a beautiful place with tons of outdoor activities and the ability to live like a king on a major company CTO salary. I'd rather live there than Seattle or San Francisco.

You'd live like a king on $14.5 million/year, regardless of where you lived.

https://www1.salary.com/Suresh-Kumar-Salary-Bonus-Stock-Opti...

That link is for the CTO of Walmart, but TFA is about the CTO of Sam's Club.

It looks like they're one rung down the ladder so I'm sure they're doing just fine even in California, but they're probably making quite a bit less than $15M/year.

Bentonville is being gentrified by the Walton Family philanthropy. I hear young people talking about how great Bentonville is.

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