
Is it a bad idea to move to San Francisco? - brendanmc6
I am a frontend developer planning my next career move. I&#x27;ve been slowly compiling a list of companies around the world who are working on problems I find important, interesting, and relevant to my background. Almost all of them are hiring for positions in SF.<p>I&#x27;m well aware of the neverending housing crisis and social problems there. It scares me, but the work and compensation is enticing.<p>Should I stay away? What salary is needed for a reasonable quality of life there? Are you happy there? What expectations should I have?
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devm0de
Two decades in SF, moved here in my twenties and have moved a few times within
the city and now have a family here.

Ideally you find a rent controlled apartment, which is the majority of older
homes and apartments, built prior to 1979. It’ll be very expensive initially
(assuming the landlord raises the rent upon move in as they do) but less so
over time. My family has been in ours for 8 years now and it’s now cheaper for
us to stay in SF on my solo salary than to move to most other major cities. We
invest money into other asset classes and property outside of SF since we’ll
likely never afford a home in SF proper nor would we want to own one, for
multiple reasons.

We love it here, as a software dev I have LinkedIn opportunities knocking down
my door, food, activists, weather all amazing imo. We might consider moving to
a cheaper city at some point or if our kids end up in the lottery system of
public schools.

Homelessness, crime and drug abuse hasn’t improved imo. You take the good with
the bad.

Anecdotally I had a close friend leave SF for a year to travel and came back
to SF last month after missing it. He stayed in an Airbnb in Bernal heights
for a month and managed to find a shared rent control apartment in that time
for a below market price. His trick was he accidentally emailed the wrong ad
on Zillow that wasn’t listed under apartments for rent. And the home owner
emailed him back saying he hadn’t considered renting the home but was
interested, they met and he soon moved in.

So as a renter thinking outside the box can pay off. But in general with house
hunting be persistent, be early, act fast, have credit reports, references and
the biggest paystubs you can procure and network like crazy.

Also some companies will pay for relocation and/or have temporary housing, so
maybe get an offer first then move out here.

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brendanmc6
Thanks for the thoughtful response! Are studios in the city out of the
question for an early career couple? Should we be looking at Oakland or
outside the city?

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devm0de
I haven’t personally looked at studios outside of open houses I see in my
hood, the ones I’ve seen are super tiny and very expensive. But I’d look at
everything. Also be prepared to be turned down by competing renters that might
be just some single rich person.

If you’re open to a roommate you’ll get more for your money and might find it
easier to get established. We did that for 3 years before getting married then
later took over the whole place. As long as you keep getting promoted/raises
and your rent can only go up by 1-3% annually then eventually it’ll swing in
your favor. We played the long game.

Also with roommates there are sometimes situations where you can find
something rent controlled and below market rate when someone else is already
living there but your much less likely to find that with studios or property
management companies.

One downside is in the unlikely situation that you’re evicted (hard to do in
most rent controlled houses) and your name isn’t on the check then you’re not
protected or paid out to the same extent as the rent payer is.

Oakland will be cheaper and more space and is becoming fairly trendy. But then
you have to commute and it’s a totally different vibe than SF. And I believe
annual rent increases are allowed there. Home invasions are more rampant there
too which freaks me the fuck out.

The Oakland commute isn’t too bad though imo, I’d probably choose commuting
from oakland over north or South Bay if living in SF wasn’t an option.

I will say, all complaints aside if you can make it work SF is awesome. I love
that I can be at the beach one day, skiing the next, tech and biotech world
hubs. Museums and science academy, parks in every neighborhood. There’s a
definite energy here. Not NY hustle but CA hustle. Just watch out for the poo
on the sidewalks.

Edit: If you both end up working in/near soma and don’t mind living on an
island then Alameda is pretty underrated imo. I have coworkers who bike and
ride the ferry over. The downtown is cute and safer feeling than nearby
Oakland, more family friendly.

Also treasure island just got approved for a ton of construction for the first
time. But it might be a couple years out and probably expensive cause new
homes.

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verdverm
I came to SF from Denver for a month to work, now I'm skipping my plane ride
home.

This city is magical! I'm way happier, energetic, and alive.

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throwaway3627
Four decades Bay Area native here. Yes, unless the salary more than makes up
for the extremely-unbalanced cost of living. Housing and everything in SF is
obscenely expensive. It's been this way for many years, but still people try
to migrate there like lemmings because "everyone else is doing it," only to
later realize either they're stuck and can never retire except into poverty OR
are forced to leave and find somewhere else more suitable for saving money,
raising a family and/or maintaining one's sanity. Don't move there lightly
without a definite plan and budget, or you may likely find yourself either
wasting time and money, or in ruins.

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sjg007
Depends on what you want. You can make it work. If you eventually want a
house, family etc... then you may have to leave.. depends on the IPO lottery
etc... and what happens in the next 10 years due to the housing crisis. But
there are tech jobs everywhere these days. There are also plenty of "midsize"
companies where you can transition to a work remote job as well after a few
years if you do find the Bay area out of reach.

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bwb
Just chiming in on a small request, any chance I can hit you up for a 15 to 20
min customer dev interview? bwbbwb@gmail.com, trying to talk to eng/dev
looking for jobs and how they filter down a list of companies. Would be much
appreciated and happy to share about my time in SF too (although it was 4
years ago).

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keiferski
See if the same companies are hiring in New York. Salaries will be roughly
comparable but living in New York is vastly better in almost every way IMO.

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bwb
Weather :)?

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greywolf
I work in the valley, not SF, but still the same. Sorry if this sounds bleak,
but out of 45 engineers in my workplace none has been able to buy a place.
You'd need probably a 300k/year salary and above to buy anything in SF, or hit
it big in your company stocks. The options are a longer commute, you decide
how much. Rent is extremely high in the area also

