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Ask HN: Is the state budget crisis a reason not to move to California?

6 points by shorbaji ↗ HN
For a techie considering moving to the US and trying to choose a place to settle are California's budget crisis & high unemployment enough reason to avoid moving to the state?

My natural choice would have been the Valley but I hear there is a net outflow of Californian residents, the already in-bad-shape schooling system is due for some cost cutting, and that there is a big chance taxes will increase.

If the idea is to balance living in a tech hub vs. raising a family where would you choose to move to? Given the economic situation, would New York or Massachusetts be good alternatives to being in or around Silicon Valley.

15 comments

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noonespecial
At least have a look at Austin, Texas.

Texas isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the startup scene down there is starting to look very interesting.

wh-uws
What's it like there do you have any experience?

I'm about to graduate from college and I know I want to be in a tech center and I've interned in silicon valley before but I'm a southern boy at heart.

jaundicebaby
I have been in Austin for 13 months now. The market for all dev languages appears really good, if you take into account the amount of people hiring at local user groups and all the recruiter emails that I get. There are also one or more tech events on most nights of the week, so networking is super easy and the events are fun.

You mentioned being a Southern boy; I am from Chicago and I would say that it does not feel like a "southern" town here, so keep that in mind. It is urban, don't be fooled by the "Texas" thing.

Anyway, people are real friendly, tech jobs appear plentiful, and there is a very good nightlife. The housing is expensive for Texas, but probably not compared to other states. The "no income tax" thing helps, as well.

wh-uws
Thanks and I'm from Atlanta so while I'm decidedly southern I also like to have a city to be in.
_delirium
If the poster is worried about California's "budget crisis & high unemployment" in particular, Texas isn't a great alternative, since it has even higher unemployment, and about the same $25 billion budget deficit.
JunkDNA
While you may be correct about the budget deficit of Texas (there is some confusion since they budget on 2 year cycles), the unemployment rate there is most definitely not higher than California. A quick google search shows 7.9% for TX and 12% for CA as of October.
_delirium
Ah yeah, apologies; I was remembering poverty-rate statistics rather than unemployment-rate statistics.
curt
Texas has been creating over half of all net new jobs over the last few years. It's actually making it through the recession quite well.
endlessvoid94
What do you want to do?

If you have some lazy habits, generally just want a nice place to work, and to afford rent, a car, good food, and to play xbox, I might choose elsewhere. Or maybe not.

If you have an idea and some drive, it's an utterly fantastic place to live. Sure, in some places the rent is a little high and the burn rate in general can be large, if you're able to network and work your ass off, it can be perfectly doable.

I like SF quite a bit. I'm not sure I could live here for 10 years (I'm grew up in northeastern Ohio), but for the time being it's definitely where I want to be and I've been pretty satisfied so far. Good people, good nightlife (in most places, NOT the valley), and good work environments.

Oh, and good coffee. That counts too.

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davidmurphy
Don't give up on California yet. Amazing place.
TimJYoung
I'm going to ask the same questions as others - are you looking to start a company, and if so, will you need a steady supply of local talent, or will you need to find employment in the tech industry ?