
Ask HN: Would you still move to the Bay Area? - baccheion
I notice rent and housing prices are completely insane. It&#x27;s been especially bad since 2013.<p>Given everything (rent, salary, being black and 30+, wanting children eventually, etc), would you still move to the Bay Area or would you prefer to live elsewhere?<p>What are other good locations to consider? Seattle, WA? North Carolina? Austin, TX?
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hacknat
It really depends on your life stage. If you're single and plan on staying
that way for a couple of years then you can come up with alternative
arrangements (i.e. Shared housing, etc) that make those Bay Area salaries
actually worth more than the rest of the country. And the commections that you
make will be worth it.

If you're older and/or have a family then no freaking way. Adjusted for cost
of living the Bay Area salries are lower than many places. Apparently
Minneapolis and Atlanta pay Software Engineers the most money if you adjust
for cost of living. I just moved away to the Midwest and I kept my salary (the
company hiring me considered it a "raise" and they weren't wrong). Adjusted
for cost of living I would be making over 250k in the Bay Area (according to
Pay Scale's COLA calculator).

I often hear folks from the Bay Area say the rest of the country doesn't pay
well, but from conversations I've had with other professionals I have had in
my town and a perusal of Glassdoor tells a different story it's not hard to
make 140k+ where I live.

Companies in the Midwest and Southeast know they are competing for talent with
the Coastal centers and they have started to pony up.

You can't look at absolute dollars. If you make ~120k in the Bay you have to
realize that's like making 75k every where else.

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aphextron
Forget about the rent prices. It's really not that big of a deal. Being black
is not an issue. I've never had a problem here. There are very few places in
the country more diverse and inclusive than the bay area. After all your
expenses you will still be making 10-20% more than anywhere else and the job
market is on fire. Any decent engineer can come and go to jobs as they please
around here. I can't imagine a better place to be.

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baccheion
Is it difficult to find a good apartment (quality build, washer/dryer in unit,
good location, gentrified or new, etc)? Where's the best place to rent (for
me)? Palo Alto? Mountain View? Menlo Park? San Francisco?

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aphextron
In SF proper you're probably not going to have much luck unless you are at a
very high end salary. Hundred year old Victorian one bedrooms in a crappy
neighborhood will start around $3k. If you don't mind roommates though, and
you really just want to live in the city, it's possible.

The best place to look IMO is the east bay, from Oakland to Berkeley. It's
still a quick BART ride into downtown SF but prices are 50% cheaper than in
the city. Other than that San Jose is decent but you will be forced to drive
everywhere.

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Eridrus
I moved from the bay to NYC last year and thought that there is enough tech
here for it to not hurt my career. I wasn't wrong, but as I decided to make a
career change to become an ML engineer, I found that there was noticeably less
opportunity here than in the bay. I still found a good job in the end, but
there were just so many more interesting jobs back there.

I don't know if it's worthwhile to go to the bay for purely financial reasons,
but it definitely still seems like a good place to go for career reasons.

I'm sort of expecting to move back to the bay eventually, I'm just hoping that
they get their head out of their ass and build some more housing.

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namlem
As someone in the NYC area and about to finish my Masters, I worry about this
too. I don't really want to work for a bank or an insurance company. I guess
there are jobs in the medical field though.

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rayj
Seattle median home value is $612,000. San Francisco median home value is
$1,132,300 (zillow).

Assuming all other factors are equal that means you need to save almost
__twice __as much for a down payment in these areas. If you are making
>100k/year CA income tax will further complicate matters.

Seattle home prices are about 1/2 SF. There is no state income tax, so add on
8% to your income. Salaries are slightly lower, but not by much.

If you don't care about culture and just want to make/save lots of money, this
is the place to be.

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runT1ME
The Bay Area is about the only place I'd relocate to. I'm picky about what
teams I'd want to work for, so the only way I'm going to upend my life, sell
my house, buy a house (or find a place to rent) is if I know that I won't have
to do it _again_ if things don't work out.

I'd throw LA into the mix too, as it has a growing tech scene and a lot of
things going for it. Seattle, Austin, and maybe Boulder if you can survive the
cold.

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prostoalex
After taxes, rent and food, what is the net savings in your bank account
today?

Then evaluate your offer and calculate net savings in Bay Area.

For many (especially those currently located in low-paying areas such as
Eastern Europe or some Asian countries) the net savings are greater with all
things considered, therefore a move makes sense. For others the increase is
marginal or non-existent, as high salaries exist elsewhere in the world, so
they won't bother.

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zerr
Things get tricky when you work remotely... I'm "stuck" in eastern Europe
working for western European clients, charging North American rates :)

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efrafa
I moved to SF from Europe and Im glad I did it. I will probably not stay here
my whole life but its a great experience.

I found a very nice studio in Marina (pacific heights) for 2.5k, and it was
pretty much first place I applied to, so finding place at least for me was
super easy.

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mud_dauber
I travel between Sunnyvale (company HQ) and Austin (home) fairly often. It all
depends on your priorities of course - but the quality of life in the Bay Area
doesn't hold a candle to Austin.

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b3b0p
Are you saying the quality of life is better in Austin?

(I'm in Austin and am / was considering moving to Palo Alto or San Francisco.)

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baccheion
For that, just divide yearly_salary by monthly_rent (for the same type/size of
housing). You can also check crime data and other such things on
[http://www.city-data.com](http://www.city-data.com) .

Many move from the Bay Area to Austin, Seattle, North Carolina, etc,
especially when they're ready to buy a house. Unless something special is
waiting for you, I'd say San Francisco will be a step down. I'd definitely
recommend visiting first.

If you're moving for career reasons, then you should first see if the Bay Area
company will allow remote working.

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b3b0p
I've been there a number of times, but not for extended periods. I'm not
moving, but the idea of moving has crossed my mind. I have no kids or family
and I currently live downtown Austin in a studio (no car and bike everywhere
without problems). I have a job at a local start up right now, but things
change.

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xchip
Nevermind being black. I was there for 3 years, I am Spanish, my English was
far from perfect and people were really nice to me.

I used to pay $500 for a huge room in a flat shared with 2 other people :)

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thrwythrwy
go for it, you won't be disappointed.

