What prompted me to post this "survey" is an interesting opportunity onsite in NYC. But from an outsider's perspective, especially browsing apartments online, it doesn't seem too attractive. I'm sure there's a lot to like, but it would be nice to hear the good and bad from people who live there.
So, please give your city and its pros and cons.
TIA!
Pros: Good food, strong English proficiency. Good diversity. Easy to get into the top 1% of tech. Very easy to set up a non-VC backed company, and you'll make sweet margins.
Lots of talent, roughly equivalent to Singapore. They have NUS and ivy league grads, but we have the population funnel. You can have all the smart conversations you have on HN all day and all night with someone out here. Plenty of tech events in KL, probably comparable to European capitals.
Cons: Middle income trap - retiring with a job is extremely difficult; most either end up doing a business, working in gov, or staying as a corporate slave long enough to get a VP position. High sin tax (alcohol, tobacco). Work discrimination is fully legal. Affirmative action is also a heated topic. Uptick in racism as we go through some political shifts, but it's still decent IMO. Very little VC funding here. VCs prefer Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, but VC-backed companies often set up engineering/R&D offices in Malaysia.
Mixed: There's good tolerance of LGBT+ here. Violence is uncommon. However, it's tolerance, not full acceptance. Don't force your views on others and you'll be fine. Everyone has very different religious and political views from their neighbors.
Stats say crime rate is comparable to Canada, but I think it's mostly the poorer areas. KL is mostly gentrified now; most of the people who would be delivering drugs are now delivering McDonald's.
Pros: It’s in the “West”
Cons: It’s cold, expensive, and all the kids are vaping and drinking. There was a stabbing on the street on my first week here just 10 minutes away from where I live. Even though GDP per capital is higher (but actually unexpectedly low), purchasing power is much lower.
Context: I come from Malaysia and have always idolized the west as some sort of paradise. Even for lower pay, I’d much rather go back to Malaysia in a few years. Tips to those that were in the same situation as I was (got some money through luck and considered coming to the UK for university): You’ll probably be happier staying where education is cheap, days are warm, and skies are clear.
Pros: Limitless number of things to do, people to meet, communities to be a part of. And Broadway (for me). I also enjoy not needing a car.
Cons: Yes it's expensive. Apartments are a choice between: good location, good size, good price (choose two). More shit seems to be going down in the subway (sometimes the literal kind).
Also, there's a kind of art to apartment hunting in NYC. Once you master it, finding an apartment isn't that bad. I've always gotten a pretty good deal and always had a choice between a few apartments. Staying away from trendier neighborhoods is my first rule (way overpriced.. and this is what most ppl see first before digging deeper). I guess the second rule is know thyself - knowing what annoyances you can tolerate will help you find the types of housing that'll conceivably work for you.
Pros: No need to have a car (pretty great transit system), I can't leave the house without running into someone I know as at least a friend, great coffee, super easy access to international travel and nature. People who are at the peak of competitive athletics, particularly outdoor athletics, also tend to gravitate here, and that's a unique circle to be adjacent to.
Cons: Outrageously, comically expensive, for pretty much everything, especially a place to live, and there's fuck all for jobs atm. I'd also argue that the city lacks any kind of particular cultural expression except bland richness and being filled with fit attractive people. We have concentrations of some ethnic groups that bring some interesting visual architectural flavor in specific areas, but the city stands in for arbitrary big American cities in plenty of movies. Maybe that's it, film people is our thing.
I have no plans to leave; though I'm sure I could find some footing elsewhere, it would take a rather unique opportunity to throw away my sense of community where I live. I still enjoy traveling internationally to see what other places are like.
Pros: Some beautiful parks and nature spots. Very walkable (and cyclable, with a couple of omnipresent bike share systems and an extensive running / cycle path network). English is the defacto language spoken by everybody. Virtually no crime or homelessness. Infrastructure is top notch. The government are competent, pro-active, and non-corrupt. Condos all have great facilities – multiple swimming pools, barbecue pits, and a gym are the norm, tennis courts and steam rooms are common. Diverse culture that’s a combination of Malay, Chinese, and Western, with major holidays celebrated throughout the year. Amazing, cheap food from many different cultures. Loads of fantastic travel destinations on the doorstep. Excellent education and support for families. Very low taxes.
Double-edged sword: A humid 30°C year-round with no winter – some people love it, some people hate it. Draconian drug laws – people are executed for bringing drugs into the country, even weed, but Singapore is clearly avoiding a lot of drug deaths and related crime and social issues.
Cons: High cost of living. Long-term visas can be tricky; permanent residence and citizenship are getting very difficult these days. A lot of economic inequality, with an extremely low-paid immigrant workforce. The government is socially conservative but pulled a little further that way by the pioneer generation, so illiberal laws when it comes to freedom of expression, gay rights, etc. It’s a small place, so if you are always looking for new things to do, you’ll have to travel.
Pros: cost of living is relatively low especially for things like utilities etc. Very strong social programs to support young families (6 months maternity leave paid at 100% followed by 18 months of benefits paid at up to twice the minimum wage, plus up to 30 months of unpaid leave for one parent, access to preferential rate loans, grants etc. without means testing for young families, etc.). Excellent and cheap public transport. Beautiful city/architecture.
Cons: purchasing power is relatively low, inflation is outpacing salaries and interest on savings, extremely populist government with little hope of change, high levels of corruption, less progressive attitudes towards feminism, gender identity, sexuality, racial diversity. Older folks often don’t speak English.
Pros: Amazing food, music, "culture" in general. In general, if you enjoy some cultural niche, it is probably most at bloom in the U.S. inside the doors of some random address within the NYC boroughs. Compared to many cities, it's relatively easy to make new friends. In most neighborhoods, you can be born, go to school, play, eat every meal, go grocery shopping, get married, get divorced, spin out, find yourself, etc. in a walkable or at worst bikable distance.
Cons: wickedly expensive. You can trade-off some things to make it more affordable, but you have to get creative. It helps to know a local. If you want consistent access to real nature, you realistically need a car. Owning a car in NYC (usually) sucks.
I sum it up as a three-legged stool. It's a great place to have few-to-no responsibilities, be youthful (at heart, at least), and very gainfully employed. If you're short one of those three things, it becomes a shaky proposition. I've wanted to leave at one point or another for at least half the time I've been here, I'll probably still be here in 10 years.
Pros: Cheap relative to other US cities (especially California). Close to lots of beautiful nature (red rock, charleston, valley of fire, mojave, zion, death valley, joshua tree, eastern sierra). Airport has cheap direct flights to lots of places for the size of the city. Friends/family come to visit a lot. Good food if you can find it hidden away in the strip malls.
Cons: Arguably not a city, just the absolute worst suburban sprawl you can imagine. Cookie cutter homes, huge stroads everywhere. Need a car to go anywhere, walking or biking sucks. The summer, obviously. The population is very transient (at least in my experience, but most of my friends are climbers/other outdoors people which might bias things)
Pros: A clean city, an excellent public transport network, almost everyone speaks English and the language is not too hard to learn (albeit hard to get opportunities to use it). The social support system is in good shape. It's a tech friendly city with some big names headquartered here (Spotify, Klarna, King). The archipelago is absolutely stunning in the summer and those long warm summer days are amazing. Companies here are required by law to offer 5 weeks vacation and to let you take 4 consecutive weeks of that in the summer if you choose.
Cons: taxation is high and the cost of living is also fairly high. Housing is expensive (although much cheaper than London for example). Reputedly it can be hard to break into Swedish social life - I haven't found that myself, but it's a common observation. There's some concern about crime stats, and a populist (rather wobbly) coalition government that's increasingly unfriendly to immigration. Oh yeah, snow and cold in winter with long dark nights. Sunset is around 15:45 at the winter solstice.
Neutral: Stockholm is a relatively small city and the population of Sweden is also quite low.
Having lived in London for most of my adult life I never thought I would leave - but having done so, I find I don't want to go back. Stockholm is nicer. While taxation is high, IT work pays well and I feel like I get a lot for those taxes. I live in an apartment that I could never dream of owning in London. It's civilised, friendly, has excellent coffee shops, and if it weren't for the abysmal salty licorice candy I'd find it hard to find fault from my personal perspective!
In this reporter's humble opinion, it's wild how dissonant the narrative about this city is with the reality on the ground. If you ask our relatives who watch too much cable news, they think we live in doom loop hellscape on the verge of total collapse. Yet when we go out and walk around different parts of the city… it's mostly nice. There's plenty of people out and about; it feels like things have recovered from pandemic-era decline.
Of course there are problem areas that do look like the Bell Riots might pop off at any moment, and I really do hope we find a way to address those problems. But the truth is, that makes up a small part of the city, and even in the sketchiest parts of SOMA, the homeless population et al will for the most part leave you alone; it's not particularly unsafe.
Pros: Lots to do. You can walk most places you'd want to go. Weather is always great. If you're in tech, it's the center of the universe, and the place you're most likely to maximize your career options. Plenty of meetups/events for every niche where you can meet people, network, etc.
Cons: Expensive, but that's why the salaries are higher. I'm told that if you're single, the dating scene is a nightmare. Not exactly an easy place for families either unless you've already won the startup lottery. I don't really see this discussed, and maybe it's a little uncomfortable to admit, but there is definitely a degree of having to be able to "make it", and not everyone can.
Cons: It's in Greece, so drivers are idiots, there's government corruption, can't really make a living wage, rents are so high that I'm not sure how anyone can afford to live here, and it's so hot in the summer that you really do want to be at the beaches for those three months.
We used to be just a heaven with a lowest big-mac index and a lowest internet prices and a lowest internet censourship on the planet. But our desire to live a good live and do not think about the future has lead us to the war.
Poland in 90s was exactly like Ukraine in terms of economic, but now Poland is in top-20 and Ukraine is in the ass. But I love it with whole my heart and will continue to live here despite any changes in the government. Who knows, maybe Russian government will be better for us than BlackRock-approved fagship and US' spyship like FATCO. Europe must be either being morally destroyed via too much comfort or being annoyed with our high as Moon corruption levels - one of these two statement must explains why West's help is so absent at the moment of 12/5.
Thing is as much as I love good urban design, there's more to life than that. Eg, Amsterdam has terrible weather and tbh I find Dutch culture and lifestyle monotonic and boring. Lisbon is diverse and great but salaries too low. Paris is diverse and amazing but too cold and salaries too low. Cabo Verde you need a good remote job to live. Miami has mostly terrible urban planning but is diverse, fun, gives access to good USD high paying jobs and has nuggets of gold which if you chose your neighborhoods, activities and lifestyle wisely can be much, much more livable than it looks. So I ended up in Miami.
I live car-free in Little Havana, walking distance to both Brickell and Ocho. Plenty of restaurants, supermarkets, pharmacies and every imaginable service within walking distance. I ride my electric bike to South Beach, Little Haiti etc in ~20 minutes. (Wynwood and Overtown in like five ten lol) (that's faster than driving, esp in case of traffic or even just if you include parking) I can take the TriRail and Brightline to Ft Lauderdale and beyond. I can even ride the Amtrak all the way up the East Coast. Not living in Kendall or Hialeah, and not having to drive everywhere, I'm simply not as affected by the bad aspects of Miami's terrible urban planning as most people fuming in traffic on I-95 on the daily are.
Don't get me wrong, Miami gets a solid F in so many ways when it comes to urbanism, so I don't want to plug it too hard. But yeah def not just doable but outright enjoyable if you make the right choices.
Pros: Weather is as good as it comes. Quick and easy access to one of the most beautiful places on the earth - The Western Ghats; among other places. Decent residential infra - depending upon what income bracket you fall in. Cost very reasonable. Excellent salary if you are in IT product development (sometimes even better than UK/EU). Cosmopolitan crowd. Excellent and varied food options. For alcohol lovers - it is essentially becoming a pub city. English just works. A lot of work that you do yourself in other places you may hire people to do at very low cost (yes, it's a low income and low living cost city and country). Cheap and well connected public transport (well buses really). And, well, it's home.
Cons: Traffic (for WFO you "must" live close to office unless it's metro to metro). Corruption all around. Rent spiked absurdly in last 2 years. Kinda inadequate metro rail network (and corrupt officials and politicians make sure it grows at like few kilometres/5 years). It's becoming a pub city. Development of the city is haywire/all over. Future of the city looks really bleak.
Pros: Its home , Safest city in India , A true metropolitan city in India with a very liberal crowd , Great and affordable public transport
Cons: Not a tech city. All the tech jobs have gone to other cities in India and I will need to move if I want a higher paying job.
Overcrowded - Whole of India feels overcrowded but Mumbai is on a whole other level you can never be truly alone in this city and the public transport while being one of the cheapest in the world means to go to your office you need to hang by the doors of trains just because there is no place else to stand.
Weather- Not much to say other than its crap its very hot most of the year. Rains bring floods every year and train closures which stop this city.
Mumbai currently is ongoing an astonishing amount of infrastructure upgrades from upgrading its public transport to building roads to solve traffic bottlenecks but the new age jobs are fast leaving the city and the city is no longer the city of dreams it once was
Pros: Safe, Extremely good public transport(probably the best in the world), has 4 seasons, close to rest of Europe by air and train, Alps close by, English is spoken by the locals, decent night life, lots of job opportunity, plenty of small boutiques. Also have 10Gbit/s connection for 50CHF/month.
Cons: Very hard to rent a flat, forget about buying, very expensive, the Zürich dialect is extremely hard to understand and learn
https://www.zuerich.com/en/visit/practical-information/zueri...
Pros: Friendly people. Cheap housing and low cost of living, great food, good public transportation, world-class shopping and dining. Low crime if you aren't into drugs or antagonizing people. Close to beaches and national parks (jungles). Easy to visit all of SE Asia. Relatively wealthy for the region (though not Singapore-level wealthy or clean).
Cons: Dirty, crowded, terrible traffic. Sidewalks challenging for walking in some areas. Difficult to learn the language, impossible to actually integrate (always a farang -- foreigner -- no matter how long you live here).
I would choose Singapore if I didn't mind paying crazy money to live there. I would choose Osaka if I could get a long-term visa for Japan (and I may do that eventually). I would maybe choose HCMC/Saigon over Bangkok except the motorbikes make me crazy in Vietnam.
Pros: amazing walkable (currently) cheap city with basically free public transport in international standards (subway at USD 0.08). Top restaurantes and cocktails scene that I think it is better than NYC. A ~250 m2 apartment in a classic neighbourhood such as Recoleta is around USD 500k. Buenos Aires never sleeps. Good Internet infrastructure with fiber optics. Very social. Things you wouldn't find in other cities which is infinite walk in [1] and [2]. Amazing icecream. Top entrepreneur city, companies are formally radicated outside Argentina. Good weather.
Cons: insecurity (don't pose as a tourist and be careful of using your mobile phone or other devices in public places). Bureacracy at its limits. Corruption in every level. No beach.
It is important to highlight that Argentina is huge and other places are amazing.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_del_Libertador_(Buenos...
Pros: Summers on the lake, on the river, in endless parks, street festivals, rooftops, and courtyards make you wonder why you would ever want to live somewhere else.
Cons: Winters inevitably remind you of the answer to the above question.
Pros: Diverse areas of distinct culture/cuisine/architecture, with much history built into the foundations of the city. Each neighborhood has its own identity so it doesn't always feel like a huge metropolis. The sports teams are good enough to get people's hopes up, but not good enough to actually win anything recently. If you make good money, it's a wonderful city. If you don't...
Cons: Expensive city. Not every apartment is $2k+/month but more and more of them are. When tech expands, it pushes out locals and prices out many from living good/comfortable lives. When tech contracts, it affects local businesses, especially downtown or in other areas built to support tech and tech workers. Either way, it's not as cool as it used to be to say you work in tech within some circles.
It's a mixed bag and I certainly wouldn't argue if someone said it wasn't for them, but for me, it's the best place in the world I could be. I'm close to family, friends, and great career opportunities (plus I like the rain, and the incredible summers no one talks about)
Pros: Weather is not too extreme compared to some other parts of the country. Summer gets hot but not Florida hot. Winter gets cold but not North Dakota cold. Risk of hurricanes/tornadoes is low (yes we did have Hurricane Sandy in NJ). Southern part of NJ is usually nicer in terms of greenery, infrastructure compared to North NJ. Proximity to NY, DC. Amazing food options and very diverse communities bringing all types of people together. We have the best Pizza (yes better than NY I would say). Great Schools. An average NJ school is better than a good school in FL for example. Good healthcare options (access wise). We also have great beaches, mountains, rivers and what not. Full package.
Cons: Property taxes is killer. We are like Top 3 in the nation. Generally high cost of living. Not great for retirees. Thats why older people usually move out of NJ if they can. Very car dependent (but thats most of USA suburbs anway).
Pros: AFFORDABLE, strong ethnic food centers. Do you want mountains? Yes. Do you want beach? Yes. The working class is diverse. On one freeway, you're looking at rockets, then up north, it's the film industry, and everything in between. Culture is overlooked and underappreciated (see: Getty) compared to other US metro cities.
Cons: Wild EVERYTHING-ELSE living cost structures, chronic homelessness, questionable climate change macro. And oh, wow, a special place for LA drivers.
Dark skies. Vast quantities of wild life. Sane, friendly neighbors, sufficiently far away. Surrounded by public lands, great hiking starting out my back door. Cheap property and low taxes. Clean, peaceful, quiet.
Pros: Mountains! Nature access—it's a 90m drive to Rocky Mountain National Park, and plenty of world-class skiing, hiking, climbing, fishing, etc. within an hour or three. Culture is laid-back, friendly, and outdoorsy. It's a progressive oasis—if you're from Utah, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, and you feel constrained by the culture you're living in, Denver's probably your closest escape. A fair number of neighborhoods (especially immediately east and northwest of downtown) are walkable enough to live without a car, though you'll want one to get out of the city. It's cheaper than California or the Northeast, with a huge, busy airport with international flights to most anywhere. We have all four seasons and they're all nice—more sunny days than Florida. I still laugh when I see six inches of dry snow on my car's windshield, walk up to it and _blow it off_ instead of spending an hour shoveling. Food and drink scene is good and getting rapidly better. I genuinely love living here, and it's got better over the years—when I arrived a bit over a decade ago, had planned on sticking it out for twoish years and then either bouncing out to a coast or leaving the states again. But here I still am, and glad of it!
Cons: it's a progressive _oasis_; once you leave the Front Range, it's your choice of Utah, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming...definitely different from a coastal megalopolis, it's far to other population centers. Denver's the biggest city around, but if you're used to NYC/LAX/Chicago it'll feel cozy-small. Middle of the country means international flights to the rest of the global north are basically over the pole (and looooong). It's actually pretty expensive; it'll look cheap compared to SF or NYC but our housing market's been on a run. No ocean (though flights are cheap). Drivers are _atrocious_; rare is the unblown red light. Our produce is improving, but still nowhere near as fresh as you'll get further south. Startup scene is okay? Denver Startup Week is solid & Boulder has tons of startups per capita, but we don't have the same level of VC access as more well-known hubs. And the tech jobs here are plentiful, but don't pay as well as on a coast—remote working is definitely the way to go.
Pros: Outstanding climate - winter does not exist, it's clear skies and sunny every day. Large enough to get major events. Access to nature. Relatively cheap (compared to Syd/Melb). Good nightlife. Great cafe culture. Good job market.
Cons: Summer is 30-35c and humid often with storms. Max 14 hours of sunlight. Over an hour drive to the 'nice' beaches. Many international departures require a stop in Sydney. Car culture.
Pros: most beautiful city I've ever seen, the water and mountains are unbeatable, ski resorts nearby, nice beaches, good asian food, friendly strangers
Cons: some really surprisingly unsafe and uncomfortable parts of the city, everything's expensive, lots of rain, biking feels really unsafe in most parts (some good bike lanes)
Pros: excellent quality-of-life / cost-of-living trade-off. NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, and Pittsburgh are all reachable in a few hours if you want to do something urban, while local farmer's markets and agriculture abound (the Susquehanna Valley has some of the finest farmland in the world, in terms of yield / acre). Currently have a ~2400 sq foot house with a ~$330K mortgage, within biking distance of grocery stores, an Amish farm market, and a college campus.
Cons: If you dislike religious cultures you may find it hard to cultivate local friendships. Christianity of several stripes has very deep roots here that are hard to avoid. That said, it's not the Bible belt - the Mennonites, for instance, tend to be more focused on disaster relief than on Bible thumping.
Pros: Mostly quiet, good food, cheap, I have a backyard, I know my neighbors. Manhattan is ~25-30 minutes by subway, my friends are ~10 minutes by bike, the good bar/nightclub area is ~15-25 minutes by foot.
Cons: I'm dependent on one okay subway line and one pretty bad one, and I'm a 10-12 minute walk from either in opposite directions. My landlord doesn't like to fix things. People like to ignore driving laws in my neighborhood and paper plates are common (by far the most common crimes, by several orders of magnitude).
I've lived in NYC my whole life, and I'm happy to share any experiences you might find helpful. My email's in my profile!
Edit: My subway lines are okay/bad in terms of reliability, not crime or cleanliness. They're average on the latter.
Pros:
- City of trees, very beautiful this time of the year with the changing colors.
- Very bike-able, in fact they just changed the way the bike lanes work to make them more accessible and visible. If you're staying in the general downtown/midtown area there's no real need to drive a car.
- Lots of beer, lots of food. Plenty of Thai restaurants in particular for some reason.
- I have a soft spot for nearby Davis with its smaller community feel and the arboretum near the university.
Pro/con: Centrally located between the bay area and tahoe/yosemite/etc., meaning you have good vacation choices but you have to drive a couple hours either way.
Cons:
- It's still a city, so it's expensive and the homeless situation is worse than anywhere else I've lived.
- The trees smell bad.
Pros: I am living in one of the most beautiful place in the world. I am surrounded by hills and vineyard, I can reach Florence, Lucca or other wonderful places in less than 30 minutes, mountains to ski or wonderful beaches (i.e. Cinque Terre) in less than 90 minutes. Good food, decent weather, decent healthcare.
Cons: Low salaries, high cost of living and housing (compared also to the rest of Italy), not too many opportunities in tech (I am WFH for a big tech company)
Pros: Affordable, good food, safe(ish), lot's of access to hiking/nature, CMU/tech-scene, doesn't feel overly crowded, and again it's really affordable.
Cons: Lack of good public transportation (having a car is a must), bad city planning (apparently planting a city around three rivers and a bunch of hills is hard), but honestly my biggest complaint is the lack of sunshine. It ranks in the top 5 grayest cities in the USA behind Anchorage, Alaska, Buffalo, New York, and a few others.
Come check it out, especially if you're into sports, PNC Park is one of the most beautiful baseball stadiums. I can't say much for the Pirates, but even if you aren't into sports it'll be a good time.
Pros: mild winters, reasonably pleasant weather year round (although the summers here are a bit hot for some folks' tastes). Lots of good college sports action, reasonably good night-life. Educated people, cool coffee shops and cafes, decent food scene locally. Lots of tech jobs in the greater Triangle area. Plenty of outdoor green spaces, mountain bike trails, running trails, places to fish.
Cons: "good night life" is relative to where I grew up which is completely in the sticks. Chapel Hill has a lot compared to that scene, but can't compare to the really major cities like Chicago, San Fran etc. The same could be said in terms of food, and many other factors. OTOH, the cost of living tends to be less here, so it's a tradeoff to weigh. There are plenty of tech jobs, but locally there is nowhere near the same access to venture capital funding, which can be problematic if you're wanting to go the startup route. In regards to public transit, at least in Chapel Hill proper the buses are free, which is kinda nice. But unfortunately when you look at the Triangle region as a whole, the public transit scene here pretty much sucks. The live music scene here is OK, but we don't have a truly metal oriented club (that I know of) since the old Volume 11 / The Maywood folded. Walnut Creek is a nice outdoor amphitheater venue and gets some nice shows, but still, a lot of major tours bypass our area in favor of Charlotte or whatever.
On balance though, I'm pretty happy in Chapel Hill. I think this a really nice balance of many factors, and I don't feel any particular urge to leave. Although I'm not saying I never would under the right circumstances.
Pros:
- Can be outside all year round (provided you love snow like everyone else here).
- Tons of activities, culture, and interesting people.
- I get to play hockey and snowboard / mountain bike in the same day, with maybe 20 minutes of time in my car.
- The weather is impeccable (again if you like winter).
- Small town airport is amazing. Get there 15 minutes before boarding and walk right onto your plane.
Cons:
- Small town. 10k people means you run into people all the time, people build reputations, etc.
- Airport can be unreliable in weather.
- Cost prohibitive for most friends or family to visit easily.
- Everyone is white, and mostly rich. Lack of real diversity.
- Eating out is prohibitively expensive and feels extravagant. (Pro to this is I spend more time with my fiancé at home cooking together and eating healthier)
I lived in NYC for nearly 20 years, and I visit for 3-6 weeks a year. I love NYC more than anything, but also for now really love my life I've built here, even if it gets lonely sometimes -- I always remind myself that I was lonely sometimes in NYC too.
Its been really nice to get out of the day to day commute to work, get coffee at [insert favorite local coffee shot], get lunch, commute home, go out to dinner or order in, go to bed, rinse repeat.
I get to snowboard daily in the winter, ride my mountain bike in the summer, see gorgeous scenery on every ride or drive, and really have mother nature as my playground. I am physically and mentally healthier than I've ever been.
But I miss NYC
Pro: The walkable parts are extremely walkable
Con: The unwalkable parts are extremely unwalkable
Pros: The climate and the food I was born and brought up in Nashik, I was in Mumbai for my Education. I agree it's the city of dreams for Indians. One can see the poorest and Richest people in India in Mumbai but the time I was in Mumbai, the hustling culture was really tough and the amount of time people gave to their families was quite poor. I've seen my classmates reach home at 11 pm and then next day report at 9 am neglecting 1-2 hours of traveling each day. Similar to their families. It made me realize how great my hometown is. It's not yet crowded, nor taken over by industries hence the atmosphere is quite maintained and can be a dream home for anyone.
Cons: As I mentioned, there is not a lot of development in the city. In big cities, you earn more but you also pay more and vice versa. So it goes both ways.
That's why I love the place.
Pros: Incredible weather, close to ocean and close-ish to mountains, wonderful outdoors and outdoor activities, great ethnic and cultural diversity, excellent food choices, lots of smart, educated, interesting people, close to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, okay public transit (by US standards), world-class universities [nearby], ...
Cons: Very high cost of living, extremely high crime, mediocre public schools, creaky infrastructure, huge drug and homelessness problem, society in a constant state of high stress.
Pros: natural beauty all around (wildlife, forests, rivers, parklands, 40% permanently preserved farmland), low key river towns, easy access on Amtrak / SEPTA / NJTransit / I-95 to NYC, Philly, and Princeton, great biking along the towpaths that line the river on both sides, quiet, privacy, good to great schools, 6/10 diversity within 15 miles
Cons: not walkable outside of small towns, only 6/10 diversity as compared to, say, NYC
Have not seen anyone post about San Jose yet so here goes. Obviously a great place for tech jobs and fantastic weather with virtually no snow or ice unless you drive 4 hours into the Sierra - cool winters and long warm dry summers. Single folks seem to prefer San Francisco, but San Jose is a great place for families to raise kids in suburbia. Housing is expensive it's true but there are also manufactured housing parks that are much cheaper and really very livable. A few parks even own their own land collectively but most charge a space rent of around $1200/mo that includes utilities. This space rent is a similar amount to what you would pay in real estate taxes on a million dollar 3 bed 2 bath SFH and in San Jose is controlled by law to not go up more than about 3%/year.
pros: INCREDIBLE food and beer scene, lots of events, surprisingly great museums, really great zoo, symphony is top notch, friendly people, surprisingly cheap, very high cultural and political diversity, good parks system, did I mention the food?
Cons: swampy, brutal summers, public transit (it exists but won't get you anywhere you want to go), suburban sprawl for miles and miles, parks aren't picturesque, Houston is to oil and gas what the bay is to tech
Pros: it's the business and tech city in South America, lots and lots of immigrants and their delicious restaurants, basically all shows and band tours in South America pass through here. Good internet and infrastructure. Good doctors and healthcare. Cheapest place to travel abroad from Brazil.
Cons: it is not very safe[1]; not much nature like Rio.
[1] safe is a relative standard, I never suffered any kind of theft or robbery living here for 10+ years.
Pros: Safe. Beautiful. Quote: "Surrey is officially England's most densely-wooded county, with more than one-fifth of its land area covered by trees". We're surrounded by forests, countryside, hills. Our town in busy enough to be fun but not city busy. People are friendly (at least in the part we live, not everywhere). English humour is great. Pubs are fantastic (nothing like the British pub). I work from home most of the time and commute to London once or twice a week. I get paid a good London salary. Also London is a commute away and London is London, lots of culture and things to do.
Cons: Very expensive housing. We have a relatively small house compared to those surrounding us (120 sq m) and it still cost us an enormous amount. Traffic is bad as the roads here haven't been designed for the number of people. The weather is rubbish. We have small children and many months of the year you spend indoors because it is rainy and very cold (not a good combination).
If it wasn't for the weather and house prices, it would be my ideal place to live (except no mountains). But I guess house prices are high because it is so good.
I do often daydream about moving somewhere warmer though. I'd quite enjoy spending some time in Singapore or Malaysia I think.
Pros: good weather: lovely summers, cool but not too cold winters. The harbour and beaches are beautiful. Great culture. Good tech scene.
Cons: very expensive housing. The suburbs are nothing special. Far from Europe or America.
Pros: Affordable compared to similar cities, yet very rich and diverse economy with multiple sectors represented. Friendly people and decent infrastructure. Relatively "central" in the US for domestic travel.
Cons: Extreme weather. Above average (though not as bad as advertised) crime problems. Lack of any worthwhile natural POI except for the lake. Relative isolation from other great cities in the US, as most of the rest of the Midwest is dead, dying, or uninteresting. Limited entrepreneurial culture.
Pros: Decent public transportation, the city itself is compact, it has good tree coverage and lots of parks. Many museums are free.
Cons: There are a lot of car break-ins lately. Many of the public schools are bad--many upper-middle-class parents steer their kids through charters to magnets or just go the private school route. Houses are expensive, rentals I've lost track of. The summer weather encourages a lot of people to stay inside in air conditioning.
Pros: not much crime, pretty calm, a lot of wilderness that I can access thanks to "allemansrätten", not very far from Norway, not super densely populated, good working conditions, property is not very expensive compared to elsewhere
Cons: not a great government, expensive electricity, not many "tech" jobs, somewhat boring, high taxes, education system isn't that great
Pros:
- Many available flats.
- Good night life.
- Many things to do.
- Public transport is ok. Great compared to the US at least.
Cons:
- Terrible for starting a startup (bureaucracy, little interest from VCs, governmental grants are assigned based on meeting formal requirements instead of potential success of business)
- Taxes are beyond crazy and people request them to be increased even further.
- Social initiatives only target those who are experts in bureaucracy and know how to take advantage of them.
- Populist goverment
Pros: Food is awesome because it is fresh, cheap, and diverse. Everything is cheap, feel unique vibe.
Cons: A lot of motorbikes cause traffic problems and reduce air conditioning quality. However, motobikes have become a part of Vietnamese life.
Pro - Like a cute oversized village where you can casually stroll or bike everywhere but still big enough to offer what cities can offer, safe, green and pretty.
Con - If unlucky with the housing market it can be a non stop nightmareish series of short-term illegal precarious living situations, getting conned in various ways, and have no prospect of planning your life.
Pros: small city, super safe, the beach is near and awesome in summer, the forest great any season, affordable housing, winter sports.
Cons: not enough cool restaurants and cultural life, you need a car as it's not walkable friendly.
Pros:
- Beautiful lakefront, architecture, & parks
- Dense, walkable, & easy to get around by train or bike
- Tons of cool things to do & people to meet (festivals, concerts, meetups, clubs, museums)
- Relatively inexpensive, especially compared to NYC or LA
- Within driving distance of my midwestern family
Cons:
- Car traffic is often bad (I don't drive in the city)
- I often have to switch CTA train cars because of people smoking on the train
- Winters are cold (I'm used to bundling up)
- Property tax rate is relatively high
Pros:
Often ranked a top places to live in the US. Very safe for families. Day trip access to Ocean/Snow/Lakes/Mountains. Lots of good food to discover. Relatively cheap CoL. No snow.
Cons:
A car is absolutely mandatory. The purge June-Aug. Everyone is moving here. CoL is rising quickly. The sprawl can make hobby/tech meetups inconvenient to attend.
Pros:
Wonderful weather, very safe, good schools and a good mix of industry and pleasant suburbs of all kinds, from old beach towns to cliffside mansions to ranch houses with wide streets and new denser condo areas. Not as expensive as LA and The Bay.
A short drive to LA, so some people will commute to jobs up there, but also a decent amount nearby.
I'm about 10 minutes from Blizzard, a large Amazon office, Broadcom, and numerous other smaller tech companies. About a 25 minute commute to a decent sized Google office as well (~1k people).
Cons: Still pretty expensive and not near as many entry level tech jobs as the Bay, NYC, Austin, and other tech hubs.
Still, 1.6 million can get you a nicer, newer four bedroom detached sfh in a very pleasant neighborhood. I'm guessing it's quite a bit more in the Bay or NYC.
Pros: - Great variety of foods around here (I love Hakka!) - Relatively "affordable" where you can afford a semi or detached home (albeit it'll be 100 years old with a smaller backyard) - Great walkability to small markets, restaurants, breweries and Lake Ontario - Sense of community - Pretty good transit for North America (24 hour street car, subway line and a local rail within a 5 min walk) - Bike lanes becoming more common
Cons: - Generally cold climate means a short growing season for my victory garden - Our salaries lag our southern neighbours - The health care system is showing signs of failing under pressure
Pros: Cheap, flat 5% tax on foreign income, Good food, Temples, and Mighty Himalayas scenery on a weekend hike, Safe for males and females, Good tolerance of LGBTIQ+, legalized same-sex marriage.
Cons: Traffic, Expensive Health facilities, Corruption
Pros: * cost of living is very cheap * ~4 hours from Boston, nyc, Toronto * lots of nature * for the col, there is a solid quality of life * winters are not as bad as it’s portrayed in media
Cons: * crime and poverty for the city size * typical rust belt issues (although Micron still says they are coming)
I work remote and live very well in this area, and I’m sort of a home body so I mostly enjoy a quiet chill life with my family. I usually have to go to the office in nyc a few times a year (55 min flight) and that lets me get my fix of food and fun so it has worked for me for the past several years since I have bought a house here
Pros: Living in the capital city you don't need a car - a monthly bus-pass covers all the metro/tram/bus trips you need for €50 or so. The city is also very walkable, which is particularly good for children.
If you have children they can go to daycare from 1year old, and the cost of that is subsidized, they start school properly at age of 7 and generally take themselves there (mostly by walking, some might cycle or take a bus).
The cities are safe, the houses are expensive but not out of reach, and renting isn't so bad, most buildings have double/triple glazing and are very well insulated.
Nature is easy to reach, and readily appreciated. Children spend a couple of hours outdoors at school, even in the winters. Also if you do get cold a sauna is a great way to warm up!
Lots of technology companies, relative to the city of the country, and English is frequently the working language.
Cons: The winters get cold, it has been -10°C for the past week, and it will get colder soon enough. The winters are also dark. As a UK-native the language is complex and alien, but willingness to learn and practice is appreciated - the con is that if you struggle to order something in broken Finnish people will usually switch to English, which helps you in the short-term, but screws you over in the long term.
Alcoholism is common, and winter depression, but the alcoholism in Scotland is significantly worse so don't go expecting something crazy.
Pros: housing costs much lower than other Canadian cities. Very easy to get around without a car (horrible with a car). Lots of varied, nice neighborhoods. Good food and restaurants, though I find there are some "deserts" with not much locally. Very safe compared to other cities. A good vibe of people enjoying life. Generally good for outdoor activities, between the mountain, running and bike trails, lots of parks. Decently close to some good provincial parks. I understand there is good nightlife but I'm too old to comment.
Cons are more subjective.
Pros: More tech jobs at a higher average salary and much lower cost of living than Austin (but see cons). No state income tax. 2000 sqft. house in a premium school district for $500k. Plenty of art, culture, and nightlife. 5 major sports. It's 60 degrees Farenheit right now in December. A blue city politically (like all major cities) with an LGBT district, etc. Better parks and outdoor life than you'd think. Traffic congestion not as bad as you'd think (but see cons). Fastest growing metro in America so the good things will mostly improve further (but not cost of living).
Cons: America's worst drivers (lack of congestion just means they can cut you off faster). Minimal public transportation and walkability. State politics are still very red and basic competency and state capacity are becoming issues. Tech jobs are mostly generic Fortune 500; minimal startup scene. Taxes are higher than you'd think; the lack of income tax comes with exorbitant sales and property tax. The only saving grace of summer is that there is no Gulf Coast humidity, but it's still a damp furnace. No beach or much of any natural beauty of any kind withing hundreds of miles.
Pros: plenty of tech jobs, mountains and national parks right next door, very clean and safe city, healthy and well educated population, delta hub.
Cons: the lake may kill us one day, or the house prices.
Pros: our family are all here so we don’t have to spend holidays coming back anymore. Lifestyle wise - it’s quiet and everything we do is within about a 15 minute drive from our house. The kids school is a 2 min walk, the center of town is just over 10 mins away. Houses were affordable when we brought.
Cons: it’s far away from everything and the airport connections are extra shitty since covid. Housing is expensive. It’s quiet…
Pros: beautiful beaches, great weather. Good public transport. Strong mining sector. Mostly good economy.
Cons: expensive CoL. Isolated from the rest of the world and even the rest of Australia. Difficult to find tech investment, most investment funds are focused on real estate with a bit of mining. Housing is expensive (rent and purchase). No real tech scene or community.
Pros: Great suburbs to raise a family, small, people from all over, close to Europe, diverse opportunities (not just tech), relatively safe, bike paths, green, beach in the summer, more sunshine than Seattle, plenty of water, NH, Vermont, and Maine in the north.
Cons: Harvard, food (good cafes, shitty restaurants), expensive, windy and cold in the winter (not much snow though), rains all year, Boston the city sucks.
Pros: food is good, people are pleasant enough, it's a place run with sense and meritocratically, no matter your politics. There is practically someone from every strata around, from high powered tech and business goons to the salt of the earth types the further away from a metro-connected train station you get.
Cons: COVID really expedited the yuppie locusts from the city moving in and we are still dealing with that. Crime is still an issue in some areas, mainly Newark (even though idk what would possess a regular person to willingly go to the shitty aside from jury duty), but tbh it's mainly downlow organized crime. You will see a lot of small businesses stay open despite not having a customer in months. Recent demographic changes has also increased almost a nepotistic streak, at least where I am.
Pros:
- “silicon hills” - lots of tech jobs, second only to the Bay Area if you do embedded software or hardware.
- Chill vibe. Friendly people, low crime, thriving LBGTQ+ community
- World-class tacos, BBQ, and beer
- Lots of bars and nightlife if that’s your cup of tea
- Moderate cost of living. Not as good as 10 years ago, but still very doable, especially if you are willing to live out in the ‘burbs. Still possible to have a nice house and put your kids in good schools without being in the 1%. Unlike the Bay Area, not priced out of having a family.
- Spring and Fall. For about 6-8 months of the year, great weather.
- Lots of stuff to do in driving distance. Good outdoor hikes, boating/fishing/camping, and lots of stuff to do in Houston and Dallas.
- Good seasonal events. SXSW, ACL, F1 race, UT football
- UT is here and it’s very possible to go for a top-10-ranked engineering masters degree while you work a high-paying tech job.
Cons:
— Summer. 90 days of 100F+ weather.
- Winter. Infrastructure not set up for snow / ice, but it happens for a few days every year or two. When it does, it is exceptionally disruptive.
- Traffic. IH-35 through downtown Austin is consistently rated the most congested piece of highway in the USA. Public transport is weak, most people need to have a car.
- Police. During the Black Lives Matter protests, things broke down between the community and APD. A bunch “quiet quit” and sit in their cars playing on their phone all day. 911 has had 30 minute hold times. It’s to the point they sent in the state police to help. Expect hours to get a response for non-violent crime.
- Food. Outside of tacos, beer, BBQ, there are limited options. Somewhat mitigated by world-class food in Houston being a two hour drive away.
- Allergies. Cedar pollen turns everyone’s cars green for weeks at a time. Not fun to breathe that stuff.
- Museums, Performing Arts. Not much here. Again, somewhat mitigated by world-class options in Houston and Dallas being in day-tripping distance.
- High property taxes. TX has no state income tax, but the property tax ends up being higher than state income tax in CA in many circumstances.
All-in-all, it’s not a bad place to live.
Pro: way cheaper taxes than Illinois and Chicago
It's a red state, we have constitutional carry, so crime is far lower than Chicago
Con: it's a Red State, with all the hazards for women that entails.
Chicago Winters
Pros: easy to get around town, great airport, lots to do, and very very affordable.
Cons: Not pedestrian friendly. Sprawl.
Pros: Quiet. Clean. Dark. Private. Land. Tractable government. Low costs. No landlord, no HOA. Paid for. Good neighbors. Wildlife.
Cons: Power outages. Wildlife.
Pros
- Most beautiful city in the world 2 months per year
- Nice neighborhoods filled with SFHs
- Right next to an international airport (Seatac) that flies to Europe / Asia
- So many tech employers, it's hard not to end up in a high paying job
- Access to mountains and the Pacific ocean within a few hours drive
- Non-religious
Cons
- Rainy 9 months per year
- Summer months bring fires that make the air quality terrible during the few favorable months
- Geography makes the traffic awful. All roads lead to choke points (AKA bridges)
- Very visible homeless scene that have taken over most green spaces with tents, RVs, assaults, and fires
- Surprising lack of VC funding for early stage startups
- Public transportation isn't good enough to rely on. Might be a 20 - 30 minute walk to the nearest connivence store
I moved out 4 years ago.
Pros: Beautiful weather, nice beaches and outdoor recreation opportunities, amazing food, culture. Vibrant, if smallish, tech community.
Cons: July and August are HOT. Housing and cost of living is a little high (not NYC or SF, but still). It's flat - really, really flat.
Pros:
• Best city for running in the US
• Relatively cheap still - I pay $1200/month for a 1-bedroom
• Easy to get around without a car if you bike
Cons:
• Tons of restaurants and local businesses shutting down
• Increase in property crime as a result of drugs
• Average summer is going from a few days of 90+ to a week of days pushing 100 degrees with hardly any overnight cooling
Pros:
Good mix of political diversity, all the benefits of a small town but close enough to Portland to enjoy city perks, no state income tax and close Oregon which has no sales tax, within driving distance to both Portland and Seattle, weather is unbeatable, great for being outdoors with mountains and beach nearby, decent tech scene, some of the best beer, food and wine in the country
Cons:
Homelessness in both Portland and Seattle, cost of living is relatively high but not as bad as CA
I previously lived in upstate NY and FL and the Pacific Northwest is hands down my favorite and plan to be here the rest of my days.
Pros: excellent outdoor recreation opportunities winter and summer. Friendly people. Low crime. Very dog friendly.
Cons: not as much food variety as the big city. Relatively expensive housing. Few local tech jobs.
Pro: it's near San Francisco
Another pro: it's not San Francisco
More seriously, I love the bay area, and where I live, housing is much cheaper, and it's much safer and much cleaner.
Beautiful places to go hiking, great places to eat / hang out. Bay area is really fantastic.
I love it. No complaints.
Pros: Original capital (history!), world class art museum, 17/18th century architecture, amazing food scene and groceries. Affordable compared to most major metros in center and close neighborhoods, as in you can own a house here and the carrying costs aren't high. Philly rowhomes are plentiful! If you're making NYC money you will live like a king.
Transit system, the el (subway) and regional rail are decent. Tech scene small, easy to network. Amtrak goes to NYC, Lancaster, DC, big station. Healthcare very good, several world class hospitals in the area (Jefferson, Penn, etc). Starting to get protected bike lanes in some areas, if you asked me 5y ago if it would happen I would have said not in my lifetime. Traffic can be a little nuts on 76, but in general fine if you stay away from center city.
Music venues are great, many and small. Most things don't require several months in advance to get a ticket. If you like live music you can see things from your local noise band up to Arcade Fire easily. Fun art scene, lots of things going on.
Very close to nature, the original green city! Airport is very accessible, though not the best. You have some choices, I have gone to Newark for things like Porter to go to Toronto.
Cons: Crime a little high, rep as opioid Disneyland, can be very dirty. Typical US city stuff: stolen packages, certain areas very bad (Philly is good block bad block), some things can't be bought in stores without a key assist because of shoplifting. Carjacking at a new high recently.
City wage tax ends up creating a higher than expected tax setup. Property taxes are low for a city, and services are reflected by that. Schools are not great, there are some good academies but I don't know the system.
Tech jobs are ok here, but definitely small and does not have the critical mass of a tech hub. Comcast, Blue Cross, Oracle are here, but pay slightly lower than major tech hubs.
Personal bias: I work in NYC, live in Philly. The savings resulted in me being able to buy in a top 3 neighborhood, and seems like it was a good decision. YMMV.
In short, come visit, climb the Art Museum steps, and look at the possibilities!
Pros: Best Mexican food in the country, proximity to Mexico, beaches, biotech (if that’s your industry), weather, laid back, great zoo, people are generally active.
Cons: Very expensive CoL relative to income (“sunshine tax”: despite the same if not higher housing costs than other west coast cities, salaries are comparatively lower), not the best tech scene (e.g. tech meet up events hard to come by), tourist season can have bad traffic, people who purchase second/third homes here.
Pro/con depending on who you ask: everything is 15 minutes away from everywhere (unless you’re at the peripherals).
Pros: Great economy, companies like Mercedes Benz, Bosch, STIHL, etc. are from here, which makes the region very rich. We have cool vineyards and a lot to explore (beautiful old towns, black forest, castles, etc.). Great Dialect ;-)
Cons: No ocean. We have 4 seasons, so it gets quite cold for several months of the year. Housing prices are insane, a lot of people are only able to rent. Aaaand we are a meme because of all the construction sites, especially our train station.
Pros:
- Very high ratio of software salaries to median wage. As a senior, you easily take home roughly 5x the median wage, or more. This translates into high standard of living (it's easy to get your pick of real estate, afford best services etc.).
- Because of the above, going FIRE on a regular developer salary is actually very realistic. Don't need to kill yourself in a FAANG, just work a regular job for a bank or something and you'll get there if you want to.
- No street crime. Everybody feels completely safe on the streets pretty much all the time, even though it's a metro area of 2+ million people.
- No drugs, no drug dealers.
- Less obsession with money, status and achievement than in Western societies. Around here, people just want to live content, regular lives, and not be rock stars, millionaires or best-selling authors.
Cons:
- Poor air quality in the heating season (October - April) on cold, windless days.
- Public transit could be better (and is better in wealthier Polish cities).
- Lots of remnants of old mines (slag heaps etc.) scattered around the area. They're being gradually recultivated into green areas, or just built over, but it will take decades to heal the landscape completely.
- Neighboring Russia is openly hostile towards us, and can invade Poland within the next 5-10 years.
Pros: I feel like I’m deeply connected to the community. All the stores now know me by name. Less racism than major cities (I’m brown). I am living very close to nature and because of it, have a better mental health.
Cons: less choice in everything. Don’t like your dentist? Well, you have only a few more to choose from. Transportation sucks too.
Good: Low cost of living, great people, good outdoor life, moderate winters, fantastic place to raise a family
Not so good: Hot summers, limited population means limited big-city activities, some areas underdeveloped
All things considered, I chose Arkansas to be my home after living in several other states, including some of the bigger ones.
Pros: No natural disasters, fairly affordable, good schools.
2-3 hour flight to the Bahamas / Caribbean.
Cons: Summer weather sucks as it is too humid and hot. No winter / snow. Proximity to beach and mountains for skiing sucks.
Cant really enjoy the outdoor weather due to the sticky humidity most time of the year.
Pros: Beautiful architecture, rich nightlife, in the center of Europe (less than 4 hours of driving to Vienna, Bratislava, Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Leipzig, etc), good food (not the traditional Czech cuisine). The best beer in the world. Excellent public transport (all over the country). The salaries in IT are on the level of Germany, unless you’re a beginner. Almost everyone has a dog.
Cons: Expensive rent, especially relative to the average income. The language is difficult to learn if you’re not Slavic. Prices in supermarkets are among the highest in Europe, but services are generally cheap. The dogs often forget to pick their poop up.
Pros: Laid back culture, interesting geography, great food of all kinds (especially Mexican), climate
Cons: Expensive and crowded
Pros: mountain biking.
Cons: Drains all your money, then squanders it through corruption, laziness, incompetence.
Pros: Weather, activities. People are chill and the Mexican food is dank.
Cons: Spensie and the wages aren't great; prefer to work remote for that Bay Area $
Pros: cheap cost of living for a tech city, warm most of the year, BBQ and live music
Cons: it's hellishly hot for 2-3 months, it's expensive compared to other (non-tech) cities, politically liberal folks will find state politics oppressive
I wrote a much more in-depth analysis of the best city for techies in 2024. TLDR, I think Seattle is probably the best place overall. The Bay is still king if you want to maximize for career growth, though: https://overthinkingmoney.com/2023/11/21/best-city-for-techi...
Pros: Much easier to make it here than Los Angeles, where I grew up. Government processes are simpler, taxes are lower for my income bracket and easier to reason about. There. Are. So. Many. Trees.
Walkability depends on where you live but is good where I am and even better in Midtown. Where I live it’s a lot like walking in the woods except you have a sidewalk and a Kroger/Wholefoods and local downtown stretch just 20 minutes walking down the road.
If you’re into sports, we have one of everything.
We have a subway that actually takes you places you want to go, including the airport. Larger stations have a park and ride so the last mile isn’t all that difficult to handle. It’s a shockingly progressive transit system for the part of the world we are in.
While LAX is getting better, ATL is such a better airport. I used to hate having to deal with LAX for my work travel. ATL is so much easier to get in and out of and the facilities are top tier. Delta is the dominant carrier and they’re very good at what they do. As a nice bonus, I save a few hours flying to Europe vs LA.
Cons: If you live outside the perimeter, this can be socially the equivalent of living in another state. I have friends that won’t drive 15 minutes to where I am “because it is too far.”
The population is growing very quickly so we have rush hours approximating Los Angeles. Whenever I am with another ex-Californian or an ex-New Yorker, we joke that the locals have no idea what is happening to them and that this is a Baby LA/NY in the making. If this is managed correctly I think it’ll work out ok. We lack any guarantee that we won’t see the problems those cities have today in our future.
While the tax and fee structures are good for me, it’s effectively a regressive tax system for the poor.
Some parts of the city seem to consider paving roads optional. “Put a plate on it” is a common joke referring to steel plates being placed everywhere road work has not been completed. This has gotten better but the “Steel Plate” is an active meme on ATL Reddit.
While Delta is a good airline, the ATL airport should really just be named “Delta Airport”. For work, I travel to some countries in Europe where Star Alliance airlines are the primary carriers. I’m not particularly concerned about the seat I’m flying in, but nothing has caused me as much travel pain as flying in a KLM long haul flight in Economy.
Lastly, you can definitely move to parts of the ATL metro that are unwalkable (as in, no sidewalks and only Strodes between your housing community and other places) and distant from all the city’s points of interest. I wouldn’t rely on a third party to find you a place to live unless you aim for something right in the middle of the city. It’s possible to have a drive that is 20 minutes by flight of the crow take 45 minutes due to the way roads are linked and how the topography affects travel time. One quadrant of the city does not have a link to the subway.
Pro: Taiwan is overall a very convenient place to live. Cheap delicious food; convenience stores on every other block; public transportation is great in Taipei, decent everywhere else; beautiful mountain hiking trails, and beautiful beaches in the south; very friendly people
Con: Real-estate is ridiculously expensive especially when you factor in the local salaries; Local work culture is very much long hours to give the boss face (I work remotely); Mandarin isn't the easiest language to learn (especially if you have hopes of reading/writing); The Taiwanese often miss my favorite form of humor -- sarcasm
(Living in Hsinchu to be close to my wife's family while we have little kids, but Kaohsiung and Taipei are tied for my favorite Taiwanese city to live).
Pros:
- Safe
- Clean
- Lots of hiking possibilities (although wild camping is not allowed).
- Weather is decent. More sunlight than further north and not as wet as further west. And quite warm/hot in the summers, but with a couple of wet weeks as respite.
- Food is decent. You won't find the variety that you can expect in London or NYC, but all the local and German-wide food is broadly accessible to the typical Euro/American palate. Also some big traditional companies have a Mensa which serves home cooked style meals for lunch.
- Local education system is quite good.
- Multiple high quality unis which are very accessible to anyone. You can literally just visit a lecture. Don't even need to be a student.
- A non-Anglonized culture that is just different from what you are used to in terms of mentality and attitude.
Cons:
- Job market is more traditional. Fewer startups and fewer companies working with cutting-edge technology.
- Corporate culture is less egalitarian than in international tech companies. Tech workers are valued less. There are also various glass ceilings.
- Society is more insular. Its quite hard to break into established professional or social circle.
- Taxes are absurdly high and you get very little in return if you are a normal working adult.
- Healthcare is also expensive and dysfunctional (I am comparing here to other EU countries). Also lots of quack medicine everywhere.
- The decentralized nature of Germany is really annoying. You come across a cool job but it is located in some 40k pop city, 1.5 hrs away from the nearest "big" city. This forces you to relocate every time for a new job and living in those tiny cities is not enjoyable if you expect any level of social life.
- Munich has a housing crisis. It usually takes months to find any kind of accommodation. At the same time it is one of the only decent cities for tech job opportunities.
- There are lots of foreigners in Germany, but it is not an immigrant culture. It is kind of annoying to witness and experience the divide between the various demographics.
- Despite a facade of progressiveness the level of discrimination against women and foreigners is much higher and more blatant than you would be used to if you come from the US/UK. At the same time there is a very annoying affirmative action that promotes women in tech that is very much in your face.
- Since firing people is harder there is barely any job market for juniors because it is considered too high risk to hire them even though there is a 6-month probation.
Pros: LCOL, great scenery, good food.
Cons: July.
Pros: Snow. Greenery. Great Lakes. Climate change safety. Rust-belt esthetic. Great food scene. Friendly people. Low COL. Well located to explore North America.
Cons: Miss shopping amenities from tier 1 cities. But, Toronto is a short 1.5 hr drive away.
Pros: Excellent weather (not as hot as coastal towns, not as cold as places in higher latitudes. Cost of living is not too bad if you can get a job paying international pay scales. Several game parks within couple of hours drive of the city.
Cons: difficult to get said nicer jobs. There is not as much to do as in much larger cities. Imports (electronic devices, cars, etc) are quite expensive due to high taxation and deteriorating exchange rate. Inflation is high, but hey, that's happening everywhere.
Pros:
- If you earn in Dollars a US or Europe wage, it's going to be a very cheap place for you.
- Amazing food, I couldn't live without Argentinian pizza or ice cream
- Truly the city that never sleeps; if you are hungry at 3AM you can probably find somewhere decent to eat (except maybe in more suburb/residential areas). Same if you want to go to a nightclub a Tuesday.
- Great and cheap public transportation 24/7
- The people in Argentina in my experience (I might be biased since I'm from Argentina) are much more laid back and friendly than anywhere else, it's probably easier to make friends here than in Europe or USA.
- Argentina is a *very* centralized country, it sucks if you live outside of Buenos Aires, but if you live here pretty much everything is in the city: tech conferences, concerts, universities, transport, anything bureaucratic or medical, etc. which means that you are pretty much 1 bus or subway away from any major event.
- I know many fellow Argentinians will disagree but Buenos Aires is probably one of the safest cities in Latin America, and it's pretty safe overall. In a more personal take, in around 4 years of living here I've never had any sort of issue not even with pickpocketing, and I sometimes walk home in the wee hours.
- Progressive and LGTB friendly.
- Weather is (usually) nice and it's not too cold, read the cons.
Cons:
- Whilst there is a tech scene, I don't think there are many interesting tech companies to work here, there are a few but not that many and they mostly are in the fintech industry or similar. If you want to work in Embedded, Systems, Biotech, etc. anything remotely "niche" you are going to have tough luck looking for a job set in Argentina, you can always remote to outside, if possible, obviously.
- I think it gets a bit too hot during the summer months specially these past few years, and it's not uncommon to have power outages during the summer.
- I don't think the city is very aesthetic, whilst there is some great architecture, sometimes garbage piles up in the streets, sometimes it floods when it rains, there's people living in the streets, etc. We are far from being the Netherlands.
- The usual political and economic instability that comes from living in Argentina; you won't suffer most of this if you earn in USD and you'll probably live like a king... but it's hard to ignore if you have family or friends going through tough times.
- The areas outside of Buenos Aires City are not that nice and not that safe, though if you move in car, uber or know where you're going you'll be okay. (I mean in the Greater Buenos Aires area, I'm not saying there aren't any other nice places in Argentina(.
Glad to take any questions!
Quick orientation for those not familiar: Cambridge is a city of about 100,000 people just across the Charles River from Boston. It's best known as the seat of Harvard and MIT. It's also the birthplace of the US Army, which is pretty funny if you are familiar with modern Cambridge.
Pros:
* Lots of smart and/or well-educated people everywhere, and they're not all software nerds. They're nerds of all fields and all esoteric subspecialties.
* To use the technical term, Greater Boston is polynucleated. In contrast to some other American cities, where all the "stuff" is concentrated in a small downtown and density drops off quickly from there to suburbia and then cows, there are tiny quasi-"downtown" areas all throughout the various cities and towns, each with its own attractions and amenities and its own distinct character. Related:
* You can do most of what you need to do by walking. I've read that the Boston area in general and Cambridge in particular have (or at least pre-COVID had) the USA's highest percentage of people who commute to work on foot, and I can believe that.
* Lots of good venues for live music, mostly with pretty reasonable ticket prices.
* NYC is a quick and easy train ride away, and Europe is a (relatively) short flight. I haven't ever been to Montreal but people tell me it's also easy to get to from here and worth a visit. South Station and Logan Airport both work reasonably well.
* If you have health problems, you have your pick of some of the world's best hospitals. If they can't cure it in Boston they probably can't cure it, period.
* I'm told if you like outdoor activities or professional sports there are plenty of good options.
* Weed's legal. And cheap. Could be a little better quality, but, again, legal. And cheap.
* It's a pretty progressive place (first legal same-sex marriage in the USA was done at Cambridge City Hall), though not as much as they like to give themselves credit for.
* A lot of the area is a very pleasant urban landscape in a homey, lived-in kind of way. This is some of the most densely populated land in the USA but it doesn't feel like it. People still find space for gardens, you see rabbits and wild turkeys all the time and sometimes coyotes, and the streets are well sheltered with trees.
* Strong fitness culture, which I consider a positive influence because it gets people to take better care of their health.
* It's expensive overall, housing in particular is ridiculous.
* Speaking of housing, a lot of it is old and beat-up. If you move here it pays to acquire some basic tools and learn how to use them.
* Bad weather most of the year. If you come from a warm place, the winters will take some getting used to.
* Even though distances between points of interest are small compared to western states, both traffic and public transit are notoriously bad, so it's hard to get around. There's significant hope for transit to improve but that's going to take several years in the best case and it is far from certain to happen.
* Something like 1/3 of the population are students, who all move here in the same two or three weekends in September. It's actually a pretty entertaining spectacle as long as you personally don't have to go anywhere or do anything. Also students means a certain level of drunken jackassery especially right before their holidays.
* Harvard and MIT have an immense amount of influence here and their interests are not always in line with the general public's.
Pros: Beautiful seasons. Very easy to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Unlimited outdoor activities available. Fairly progressive, with a libertarian streak. Lots of people from elsewhere, easy to make friends. Lots of outgoing people, easy to chat people up. Weather is really awesome to behold (50F+ temperature swings in a single day are not unheard of). Plenty of jobs. Cost of living is going up, but not as outrageous as California or big East Coast cities. Living in Denver at altitude is a great way to crosstrain - when I go on vacation to cities at sea level, I feel like I have unlimited energy
Cons: The winter can suck for weeks at a time. Not as bad as the Midwest or East Coast from what I hear. I hate the 430PM sunset, but this is common across much of the US in the winter. The food scene is terrible, although slowly improving. Very little diversity, there are thousands of carbon-copy 20-something tech bro/ski bums wandering around cluelessly. Bland culture - bring your own.
Pros: A lot more green areas than Berlin, Englischer Garten puts Central Park to shame. Probably the safest city in Germany, and definitely top 10 safest cities in Europe if not in the world.
Alps are easily within reach, lots of hiking areas that are safe and clean, but you have to plan those trips ahead, you can't just wake up at 10 AM on a Saturday and decide "I'm going on a hike in 2 hours", in some other places like New York State that is more doable.
People will mostly leave you alone, which is great if you're an introvert.
Cons: Rent: It's very hard to find a place to rent unless you know someone. When I first came here I was lucky enough to take over the apartment of a friend of mine who happened to be doing his MSc here. Then my second apartment we found through my gf's PhD. Without luck and just looking at the usual apps one looks for apartments I would have easily paid 400 EUR more on rent a month, which is just disgusting.
Social life: Your mileage may vary, I'm at an age where it's hard to make new friends and to be honest the drive isn't there either. Loneliness will still be a potential problem especially if you're a guy.
Public transport: It is a joke, trains are always late, or cancelled. I actively avoid the S-bahn at all costs and would rather switch 3 U-bahn trains than have to depend on a single S-Bahn train.
Food: German cuisine is not that great, kind of unhealthy, not even aromatically diverse, restaurant choices get boring quick. Not very accommodating if you're lactose intolerant, a lot of Germans seem to be completely unaware that it's a thing. I mostly gave up eating out and mainly cook at home. Thankfully that's also a cheaper option but depending on what you're making it can take a lot of time, but you can learn to optimize. Eg I prefer to cook one big pot of stew that I'm gonna eat from for 4-5 days, then it's okay if I spend 3 hours making it.
Neutral/Meh: Job Market: Half the jobs in IT require you to speak German, so as an expat you'll probably be at a disadvantage there. If I'm job hunting I will throw my CV at 200 companies and 20 will come back to me wanting to talk, and maybe I'll get 7 offers in the end of a tiring process. If you're aiming for a 6 figure salary you're going to have a tough time negotiating, a lot of companies seem to not want to budge over 80K a year, you'll have better luck at startups since they understand there's more inherent risk involved there, but if you're good enough and willing to just not settle for anything less than exactly what you want, and are able to play the long game, it's only a question of time.
Personally I prefer working in as diverse a workplace as possible, German work culture is meh, people don't really make friends at work, and you'll be looked at as a weirdo if you even try. Another reason that I've been gravitating more towards startups nowadays where the atmosphere is much more relaxed.
Final remarks: Would I see myself living here for the next 5-7 years? Yeah sure why not. Raising kids here? Maybe. I feel very relaxed most days and I know how to keep myself busy and make my own life interesting.