Ask HN: Where to move within US?
Tired of living in the Expensive East Coast and specifically NJ. Everything is so expensive while the infrastructure is so shitty.
My wife and I have been contemplating moving to a different state within US and would love to get your opinions. We have 2 toddlers but really no other huge requirement.
We have looked at Texas, Florida and even Georgia. Warmer weather, not much snow and low taxes. What else ?
Note: We have lived in HongKong when we had no kids and absolutely loved it. But with kids in equation, we want to stay within the US for now.
40 comments
[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 94.8 ms ] threadFor startup ecosystem, Seattle probably has the best followed by Austin and then Portland.
For cost of living, Seattle is the most expensive. I'm not sure about Austin but Portland has been increasing the past couple years.
Just speaking as a parent, which probably makes me a minority in this conversation.
But beware, the summers are hot, and quite long. We are in currently the middle of a 4-day 100°+ heat wave. The winters are way milder than you have seen in NJ, some frost early in the morning but no snow.
If anything was possible, would you want to live in the Bay area, find a co-founder, and grow the bootstrapped product into a company?
I say this because your comment is contradictory. You "just" wanted to mention something important to you that may be frightening. And then you doubled up trying to convince us the entire of California, which includes the expensive Bay Area and all the other inexpensive areas, is "out of the question".
I think you want to start a company, and it's frightening as it should be.
You only live once. The choice is yours.
A lot of people look at CoL and think "wow for the $120K I make in NYC I could live like a king in Oklahoma!" But the reality is that places with lower CoL also have lower salaries, so a $120K NYC salary might be $60K in other states, with the same job, same responsibilities, etc. It is relative.
Oregon has a lowish CoL and a low amount of snow. Ditto with Ohio. No clue on startup culture. Utah (yes, that one) seems to be an up-and-comer in terms of startup culture, and while it does get a lot of snow, they're very pro-active in clearing it which is nice.
Sure, there is a religious aspect which puts people off. But like it or not, that religious aspect makes everyone quite pleasant and makes the area a nice place to live (even for those who aren't of that specific denomination).
A place where you can get a cheap, large home, and pay no state income tax is Vancouver, Washington. The city itself isn't very interesting, but you are across the bridge from Portland, where there is a lot of great food and drink, and you can shop with no sales tax. You will rarely see snow, but you will see a lot of clouds/drizzle for much of the year, which can take its toll.
Austin has a lot of tech jobs and is sunny for much of the year, but brutally hot for at least 3-4 months if you aren't used to it. It's a fun place to live.
If you want more of a small nature town feel, you could try Bend, Oregon or Boulder, Colorado.
I have lived in Portland, Seattle, and Austin, and spent a lot of time working in SF, so let me know if you want more specifics on anything.
It's for this reason that we're looking at leaving Austin, even though it is otherwise quite a nice city, before our kids hit school age.
A small but well supported startup scene exists, but is consumed by "gaming" (gambling) and medical startups. Opportunities related Tesla factory is also sucking up investment dollars. The plus side is that you are only 3.5-4h from the bay area, and there is a community of angel investors living in lake Tahoe.
On the other hand, if public schools aren't a priority, then it's a bit different, I suppose. Keep in mind that Florida has low taxes and low services. Compared with NJ, that's probably true of Georgia and Texas, too.
North Carolina is another option worth considering if you're moving south away from snow.
[1]: My recollection is that Texas has school districts at the municipal level. You can google it up to verify.
If Boise is too small for you, pretty much anywhere in the Pacific NW is a good option. If I didn't live in Boise, I'd move to Portland.
One thing is for sure, the East Coast / NY metro does suck if you're not incredibly wealthy. Quality of life is so poor. If I can't get into an upper income bracket while here I'll be out the door soon.
Pros: Low cost of living, lots of space relative to other places, people are probably friendlier than they are in NJ.
Cons: Traffic is absolutely horrendous (only LA has worse traffic), high crime (in the city--it varies by suburb), really hot and humid summers, terrible mass transit (combine that with terrible, terrible traffic...), backward politics (I'm saying that not as a conservative or liberal, but rather as an observer. In 2012, the GA Secretary of State basically openly endorsed the idea that Obama may not have been born in America...), bad schools.
The tech scene is decent thanks to Georgia Tech. But you can do better than here.
I am running 7 miles at the morning before going to work. I never did it in my life before. Ever. And I'm 51.
Then whole day just flows. I thought it's Thursday but apparently it's Friday already.
Something is in the air here. Something really good.