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Is Moving to California Justified?

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Is Moving to California Justified?

  • Yes

  • No

  • I don't know

Results are only viewable after voting.
xSkyDrAx said:
You do know there are places in California that have more reasonable housing prices.

If you're going pick one of the areas with the highest costs of living and wonder what you're doing now isn't going to cut it, I suggest you move there right away!
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Yup, you could always choose to live in:
Stockton
Modesto
Manteca
Lathrop
Ripon
French Camp
Ceres
Atwater
Merced
Bakersfield
Turlock
Fresno
Tracy
Galt
Escalon
Linden
Sonora
Los Banos
Marysville
Lodi
Woodland
Dixon
Vacaville
Gridley
Corning
Oakdale

or any number of thriving California metropolises (read: shitholes) where the property values are at 1992 levels.
 
TheDev said:
I looked on Salary.com and Payscale.com. In a similar position to what I am doing right now, if I moved to Silicon Valley, I'd be making $15,000 more per year, but my cost of living would increase by roughly $35,000. Those numbers don't work. I'm not sure why anyone would think that moving to California would be justified. Sure, that's where all the big, great IT companies are located, but I don't want to see my housing expenses triple.
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Don't be short-sighted. Moving to Silicon Valley you will develop contacts and experience that'll allow you to build up your resume and pay. You can job hop and grow out MUCH faster than being stuck somewhere less fertile.

JustifiedHeader.jpg
 
We've lived in the SV for 12yrs -

absolutely love it here over other areas of California. Although, I could get used to San Diego real quick.
 
pontifex said:
moving to that shithole is never justified.
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you've obviously lived here? ...and it's actually worse than places like Philly and Pittsburg? lolno.

TheDev said:
what? It would increase by that much. Housing costs in the midwest are much, much lower than what they are in Silicon Valley.
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housing is certainly more expensive here than in the Midwest. but not all of the Bay Area is the same. The range is astronomical, in fact. and overall C0L?

lolno. again: horseshit.
 
zinfamous said:
you've obviously lived here? ...and it's actually worse than places like Philly and Pittsburg? lolno.



housing is certainly more expensive here than in the Midwest. but not all of the Bay Area is the same. The range is astronomical, in fact. and overall C0L?

lolno. again: horseshit.
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I'm sure that you could find some little shanty slum apartment for cheap. I'm talking about housing that isn't god-awful.
 
zinfamous said:
uh, so am I. Sorry, though--you will have to pay extra for Jeeves, if that's what you are expecting.


🙄
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Just for reference, when I said $35,000 difference, that compared the average cost of living in my area against the average cost of living in Silicon Valley. It took the highs and the lows into consideration.
 
TheDev said:
Just for reference, when I said $35,000 difference, that compared the average cost of living in my area against the average cost of living in Silicon Valley. It took the highs and the lows into consideration.
Click to expand...


...and you've only looked in San Jose/Palo Alto/Mountain View area? or this is probably what they are calculating for "Bay Area?"

I call horseshit, and I am right to do so--because that "difference" in CoL is close enough to my yearly salary, and I do just fine here, with savings each month. I don't live in the ghetto. Yes--rent is more expensive than anywhere else I've lived, but you know what: food is REALLY cheap out here, and it is 10x better than the dogshit that was available when I was living in the midwest. That is a major consideration.

so...yeah: horseshit.

I've seen housing in Berkeley, decent space for this place--pretty much the only space available, at ~350-400k for a 2BR. I know, that sounds insande, but it is an absolute fraction of what you pay for the same place in, say, Redwood City. Or hey--Palo Alto would be $1 mil for that. Want a little yard? $1.2 mil. 😀
 
TheDev said:
Just for reference, when I said $35,000 difference, that compared the average cost of living in my area against the average cost of living in Silicon Valley. It took the highs and the lows into consideration.
Click to expand...

Are you married with 2+ children? You should have stated that in the first post, but it didn't sound like it as you can apparently just up and move.
 
Anyone who doesn't want to move here either can't afford it or is some antisocial hermit. There's no better place in the USA to live.

That being said, GTFO, we don't need any more people.
 
The problem I see with going where all the tech is means that there is way more competition. Most of the companies there will want super high end degrees and stuff, when you could be working at another company in another city and make about the same amount of money if you move up without needing as high end of education.

Lot of people want to go there for the status symbol but if you don't care about that, then there's not really any other reason. You could work IT for some no name insurance company in the middle of nowhere and make a decent living, or you could go to school for 10 years wasting away time and money, and work for Microsoft or Google and make a little bit more money and have debt for practically the rest of your life because of school and the increased cost of living. Your job becomes your life when you work for big companies like that too. It sounds awesome at first but I'm sure the glory wanes after a few years.

That and it's too freaking hot there. 😛
 
We need more people to help pay down the $15 billion hole the state is in... just prepared to be taxed to vahalla!! :biggrin:
 
yllus said:
No better place to be in the entire world if you're a software developer.
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I wonder about that, being familiar with the Seattle market. Here you have no income tax (+9%), lower cost of living, and you can write your ticket if you're any good.

Good devs top out at around $65/hr here though. Run-of-the-mill $45-$55. You get some top-tier mobile and leads hitting $100/hr+ but it isn't common. I think most with 7+ years experience end up floating around $90k-$110k in salary.

No devs halfway half decent spend over a month before they get an offer.
 
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