What is it like being in an up and coming tech city?

Question

As someone who's lived in the Bay for a while now, we always hear these rumors that the next Silicon Valley is going to be Austin, or Santa Monica, or more recently Miami and so on.I've had friends of friends move to Austin and from what I've heard its apparently life changing and all they ever wanted etc.So for those who live in up and comer tech cities like the above or any other that I've missed, what is the experience like?How does it compare to SF/SJ/Oakland/anything in between?How is tech valued there?How competitive is the job market?How do the different rules, regulations, markets benefit / hinder tech in your city?

pickle-wizard · Accepted Answer

Next month I will have been in Austin for 13 years. I was moved here by IBM. I was working at one of their sites in Dallas and my team was relocated to Austin. I nearly didn't relocate, because I thought it would be too hard to find another job in Austin.
That turned out to be wrong. I've found there are lots of job opportunities here. Seems like there are more every day.
Down side is that out infrastructure is built to handle all this growth. So traffic is going from bad to worse. Real estate is appreciating like crazy. I like in suburbs, and my house has increased in value by 50% in 6 years. So that is making the city unaffordable. Another downside is my property taxes go up every year.
I've never live in Bay Area, but about 7 years ago I did some work for a company based in San Francisco. So I traveled out there a fair bit. Austin feel more corporate that SF. Companies move here once they are established and are looking to lower operating costs. SF felt to have a better startup and innovation culture.
Texas doesn't have the worker protections that California has. Mainly the prohibition of non-competes. Until we get that Austin will not be a replacement for Silicon Valley.

France_is_bacon · Answer

I have lived throughout SF Bay Area, and in Santa Monica/West LA.
There's nothing that approaches the Bay Area in terms of tech. Everything else is a gnat on the elephant.
Throughout the entire SF Bay Area, there is tech everywhere, in every shape and form. Santa Monica/Los Angeles is just nothing compared to the Bay Area, it's not even a shadow of a shadow of comparison.
However, I 1000% prefer Santa Monica, the beaches are fantastic, the weather is better.

tboyd47 · Answer

It's sort of an in-between lifestyle.Great opportunities and great quality of life, but high cost of living, and prohibitively so if you're looking to own property. Money moves faster than people or construction.