HN Explorer

Ask HN: Newly Remote Workers – Where Are You Moving?

137 points by temp_-_ ↗ HN
If you're in the fortunate position during this time to be both employed and able to move to another location--whether permanently or temporarily--I'm curious to learn where you may be planning to move and what factors are influencing this decision.

Stated more broadly to those who may not fall in this bucket: if location did not affect your career prospects and/or economic wellbeing, where would you move and why?

281 comments

[ 316 ms ] story [ 604 ms ] thread
shekade
Florida or TX, no state tax and relatively warm weather than NY where I stay now.
ta17711771
Choose Texas, couldn't pay me to choose the pneumonia capital of the world, lol
seanmcdirmid
Why not Nevada then? The humidity in either is brutal.
hesdeadjim
There might not be any state tax, but the property taxes are nuts.
Rapzid
Truth. I don't believe there is any way my home appreciation will outpace my property taxes.

It of course depends on where you live, but if you want to live anywhere that's desirable near city centers..

hourislate
15k a year for me. Approx 7.5 to the various Governments and the other half to schools. Those 5 million $$$ sports complexes and artificial turf football fields at the middle school (Grade 5-8) aren't going to build themselves....

Meanwhile they can't create a decent online curriculum so kids can learn from home.

It's a joke. Teachers and the School Districts get whatever they ask for because voters are too stupid to figure out what it costs them. I guy I work with doesn't even know how much he pays in tax every year since it is in escrow with his mortgage payment. He just votes yes because it's for the kids you know.....

kyleee
Not looking forward to the dystopian future when the econ theory of "price discrimination" is adopted by state and local governments, and they target people who pay property taxes through an escrow account. Once the mortgage is paid off just bump up the property tax to match the amount of the previous monthly mortgage payment and see who notices. Instead of a 30 year mortgage, it can be called in infinite mortgage at which point 99% of people will all effectively be renters
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GhettoChild
You still pay less money for a comparable property even though the rates are higher.
AIX2ESXI
Ukraine or Colombia until Summer 2021, if I can't find a good deal in So Cal.
ta17711771
What are your requirements? Any chance of staying in the US?
AIX2ESXI
Honestly just hooked on dating foreign women and want to pay $1400 for a 2 bedroom space in a quiet decent neighborhood. Born and raised in So Cal, but feel less connected and tired of the high cost of living here. Maybe if I had a fiancé that was willing to run the race with me, but I can't seem to connect to local women anymore after being international the last 6 years.
GoldenMonkey
Colombia is still closed to all international travel.
hprotagonist
nowhere, i like it here.

and maybe the market will normalize enough for me to be able to buy in!

cbzehner
I moved back to Austin, Texas when this all started. Family, breakfast tacos and more living space were all factors.
lovehashbrowns
That's where I'm looking at as well! Nothing has ever felt like home like Austin has for me.
datalus
I moved out of Austin, Texas because it's pretty awful on rent these days... $2100 for a 1 BR in the Domain... oof.

I mostly lived around the city center in a house until the high rise condo developers came.

batt4good
Fucking hell, I grew up in NW Hills, are those garbage Domain Apts really $2100 for a 1Br? That's absolutely bonkers!

I like visiting Austin, but after spending time in Boston and NYC Austin is flat out boring and self-centered.

It pains me, but for the past 2-3yrs I candidly refer to my home-town as quote "a shittier less cool version of LA that somehow manages to try harder".

betocmn
Coolangatta, Queensland - Australia. World famous surf spots + easy going lifestyle + affordable real estate by the beach.
generatorguy
That has to be one of the most competitive places to surf in the world. Hope you are good!
insta_anon
Didn’t expect to read this in this thread. I was there yesterday! Are you from Australia? Why not Gold Coast further north?
betocmn
Born in Brazil, settled in Australia. Coolangatta is a suburb from Gold Coast, but it does feel like another city. Just a different vibe, feels like a smaller town, with all the perks of having everything close enough. I lived in Sydney for five years and moved here a month ago.
stanpinte
Say hello to Cheyne Horan (from Stan) if you meet him on a wave.

Kira beach is amazing.

Stan

[dead] mnm1
WA. No state tax. Nice nature. Not completely overrun with corona like most of the other no tax states.

Post pandemic, somewhere in Western Europe hopefully. Some place that actually cares about its residents unlike this shithole country that's doing everything in its power to ensure the most corona cases and deaths possible.

plessthanpt05
I'd love to move to Norway or Iceland.
Bedon292
I definitely have looked into Norway, though it is one of the most expensive places to live.
cyberdrunk
Iceland is known for its horizontal rain (i.e. rainfall combined with 50+mph wind). Add long days in the summer and long days in the winter. Add no trees at all. It's a somewhat extreme place.
sunstone
When I dropped into street view of an Icelandic suburb I was surprised how many trees I saw. Maybe it's an issue of topsoil rather than climate?
cyberdrunk
Yes, from I've read it's definitely the issue of soil. The island was completely deforested a long time ago and the unprotected soil has completely eroded since then (the same thing also happened in Scotland and Sicily ?). There are some recent initiatives to reforest Iceland, but it will understandably take many decades to repair the damage.
[dead] tomcam
Serious question. Do you think they care about the hundreds of businesses, many LGBT owned, that were closed, destroyed, or extorted by the peaceful protestors of CHAZ/CHOP? About citizens who slog through miles of filth, shit on the sidewalks, and needles on the ground?
mortonpe
As someone who went to the CHOP multiple times through out the protests, I don’t agree with your characterization. My personal experience was not that of yours. It _was_ uncomfortable, but nobody makes change by staying in their comfort zone.

As for the miles of filth and needles. I’ve seen too. I’ve seen it in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, the list goes on. When you have folks being displaced as rents and property prices increase, so goes the middle and lower income folks. Small cities naturally don’t have challenges at the same scale as large cities.

Complaining does not help-What are the solutions to these problems? I don’t know, but I am all ears.

[dead] tomcam
Your empathy appears to be in short supply. Having your business destroyed is more than uncomfortable. They didn’t sign up for that.

The solution was simple. Let police enforce the law. Crime skyrocketed and two young men were killed. Sexual assault went through the roof. First responder time went to 18 minutes from 5.

pbourke
There is more to Washington than downtown Seattle.
tomcam
So... your answer is to ignore a sincere question. Here's another. Have you considered what if it were you putting your life savings into a business in downtown Seattle or Minneapolis or Chicago, then finding out you're not insured for civil unrest?
pbourke
The post you responded to said they'd consider moving to "WA. No state tax. Nice nature.". You then pointed out problems in downtown Seattle. I'm not here from the Committee to Get Everyone To Open A Business In Seattle, Minneapolis Or Chicago. I'm a part-time member of the Committee To Not Generalize About A Whole State Based On Stuff That Happens In A Few Square Blocks In One City.
cableshaft
Yeah, the suburbs of Chicago and most of the rest of the state of Illinois have pretty much been calm. Almost entirely peaceful protests, with the exception of a couple of suburbs for a few nights at the height of the national unrest, but nowhere near the same level as Chicago proper.

You can still move to the suburbs here and get a reasonable house at a fraction of the cost of Silicon Valley (Well, in most of them. If you want a super pricy home, there are a few suburbs for you here too also), and it's about as safe as anywhere else.

But the state is broke and the tax burden is still one of the highest in the nation, so we still have more people leaving than coming in as a whole.

jfalcon
Sounds on par for people who believe they're due reparations from China for being #first in Covid-19.

This coming from a Trump voter in the 206.

We don't condone anarchists who are the .001% of the 99.998 of the normal people in the PNW. Just like we don't condone 1% of the population holding control to 99% of the world's wealth as it doesn't benefit the economy and society.

You will have people with ulterior motives in any population no matter how you slice it. But one should be honest about how they group populations together.

Not all rednecks are dumb. Some build rockets and space vehicles. Get my point?

krageon
Thank you for giving a balanced right-wing view without going full nutcase somewhere in the middle. I've always known it is possible but it's sometimes hard to keep that in mind just reading discussions online (let alone discussions IRL... Those are always a disaster).
tuna-piano
Is that statement just based on your general feeling or data? Because the data does not show that Western Europe is doing better in Covid deaths per capita than the US.

Top 10 countries in covid deaths per capita (as of today)... US is #8 and 5 of the top 7 are in Western Europe.

1. Belgium

2. UK

3. Peru

4. Spain

5. Italy

6. Sweden

7. Chile

8. USA

9. Brazil

10. France

Of course the pandemic isn't close to over, so this data will continue to change.

In addition, besides measurement differences, many other non-policy factors impact this scorecard. For example, age distribution of a country, population density, luck of when an outbreak started... impact a countries Covid deaths per capita... so I personally wouldn't start tallying a scorecard yet.

[1]https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deat...

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sushshshsh
Montana would be nice however my company refuses to announce any firm dates on when we possibly might need to return to the office which makes signing a lease troublesome
funfunfunction
Bozeman is great if you can make it happen.
sushshshsh
Only a matter of time :) Thanks for the tip, it's exactly where we're thinking!
tayo42
Hawaii if flying didn't feel risky(virus) and logistics were easier. The 2 week quarantine makes a hard move harder. I'm not sure I actually want to be in a hotel. I am "settling" lol for Santa Cruz. I really thought I wanted to live in so cal for awhile too but watching the reactions to blm and covid makes me second guess that. Actually made me really unsure where I might want to live. Also thought about Florida in the future.
lefrenchy
Isn’t Florida, in most places, worse than SoCal in terms of response to BLM and Covid?
mynegation
Your definition of “worse” may be other peoples’ definition of “better”.
kyleee
but based on tayo42's initial comment they'd probably regard FL on the "worse" end of the spectrum. It's fair to say much of Florida is Orange County, CA on steroids (with all of the rage and none of the potential covid prevention benefits)
tayo42
Yeah that was probably weird wording on my part. I meant Florida was also a contender in the future, but due to recent events it's not really any more.
kls
Born and raised in FL, my family has been here since the 1600's and my personal opinion is most of FL is a festering poop hole. Pretty much the eastern seaboard is gone, from Florida city thru Miami up to West palm, is a mad house of thousands of cars who all think they have the driving skills of Dale Earhart. Many times Miami has been voted the city you are most-likely to have someone blatantly steal your parking spot. Police corruption their is bad and there is limited mass transit. If you get into a fender bender you will need to get a picture of the other persons licence plate as fast as possible as there is probably a better than 50% chance they are going to flee the scene of the accident.

Moving up from there you have the no-mans land of the beach rich that spans from Jupiter to Sebastian. This is a nice area, has a bit of a drug problem but not that bad. But if you don't like the rich socialite yacht club type, there is not much in this area.

From there you get into what I consider to be one of the worst areas of FL and that is Melbourne and the blight pretty much runs all the way up to Jacksonville. It is littered with Meth heads, Oxy, joblessness, economic depression and suburban blight. Think a run down suburbia of central New Jersey in FL and that is pretty much what it is. The only city in that swath that is nice is St. Augustine, I got married there and honestly it is the only city on the east coat that I would consider moving to.

Central Florida is pretty much all the same as Miami with the exception of Police corruption, the cops there are generally pretty decent. The one bad thing about Central Florida is the shear sprawl of it, no mass transit and every bad driver in the world wants to go to Disney so they bring all their different ways of bad driving to Central Florida for a grand demolition derby.

North FL and the panhandle are nice, but you have to be the type that can deal with the people there. They are ultra-conservative but generally have a live and let live attitude. For example, say 2 gay guys went into a diner in NF, they would most likely be greeted with some kind of slang like what will you have fruitcakes and stuff like that, Think being welcomed in by Andrew Dice Clay with a southern accent. Manytime's these people think they are generally being funny, but what you won't see is them following them down the street, harassing or assaulting them. But if you trigger it is not the place for you, they will say sexist, racist, and homophobic stuff a lot of times just as jabs to see if they can ruffle your feathers. But they would not go and burn down their house just because they are gay, black or lesbian. That being said, they like their sleepy little towns sleepy so if you started instigating for change, you might ruffle some feathers in that area. Point being, it's nice, it's quaint, the people are not hate mongers, but they are also not politically correct. They kind of live by a motto of don't cause a problem and their won't be one. If you can live in those parameters, North Florida is a nice place.

Now and I hate to even put this on the net, the real gem of FL is the west cost. It has it's pockets of blight like Polk and Hernado county but pretty much all the way down, you will find beautiful, old Florida towns, where the people have the old Florida attitude of live and let live. Of note some of the really nice places are Cedar Key, Hommossassa, Crystal River, Tarpon Springs, Tampa (the only big FL city I would ever consider living in again), Sarasota, Ft. Myers, Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte. If I went back to the mainland it would be to the west coat. That being said, I live in what I consider to be the best part of FL, the Keys.

codeadict
I'd add Saint Petersburg, FL to the nice list, may be include in your Tampa post since it is part of the Tampa Bay region, but St Pete is a nice city, very progressive and liberal, lots to do, nice art scene and lots of restaurants. As any place in Florida, the heat may not be for you, the summer months are hard but if you adjust your schedule to early mornings and late afternoons is generally a nice place to live. There is some local startup scene here but i've met lot of remote people on coffee shops around here before COVID-19. There are decent amount of tech meetups as well.
kls
Yep lived there in the early 90's, it was a little rough back then but it was still a cool place to live, I did kind of wrap it up with my generally Tampa area along with Clearwater, I really don't make a distinction between the 3, until you get north to Tarpon Springs or south to Ruskin, it's kind of all the Greater Tampa area.
codeadict
Yeah it has changed a lot last years and definitely a different world than Tampa or Clearwater in terms of traffic and culture options
gedy
> I really thought I wanted to live in so cal for awhile too but watching the reactions to blm

I'm in SoCal, not sure what you mean?

tayo42
Like Blm anti protests, think it was more of a Orange county thing then all of so cal.
wasdfff
These people are a minority. Socal is very diverse.
triyambakam
Speaking as someone in Hawaii, there isn't a lot that's great here. Predominant anti-intellectual culture, high COL, Amazon Prime can take up to 2 weeks, etc. The best thing is definitely the nature and safety, though
tayo42
Based off the responses I got I should written a longer post. I figured with Hawaii it would never be a place to live forever, but maybe a year or two. Spend time checking out all of the islands. Actually getting like really good at surfing. A lot of the stuff I read make it sound unreasonable to actually settle down for a long time there. Family is no where close, not really a great place raise kids?well it's probably fun but not setting them up for success. North shore was an amazing time when I visited... I don't need hip restaurants and nightlife I'm over that.
Bedon292
If it were just me and I could go anywhere:

In US, I would get somewhere with a lot of land. Montana, ND, Wyoming, something like that.

Outside US, Probably Norway for a while. Would also love to try out New Zeland or SE Asia.

arxv33
Curious why Norway? Which city?
dbcurtis
Not the OP, but of all the places in Europe where I have been, Norway just feels the most comfortable to me. My city would be Bergen.
Bedon292
Family history, my name (first middle and last) is Norwegian, and I can trace back my father's side to the Kvinnherad municipality. Bergen is the closest big city there I think. I guess I want to find more about my history. And its a beautiful country.
plessthanpt05
Montana, ND and Wyoming are pretty seriously different than Norway or New Zealand.
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Bedon292
If I am staying in the US, want somewhere with a lot of land and outdoors. With a real winter. And affordable prices so that's just geographically what fits the bill. Norway is for family history, and New Zealand is probably mostly appealing because of how well they have handled the current situation.
client4
Montana has terrible internet, no local tech jobs, and is below zero for weeks in the winter. I recommend Colorado.
funfunfunction
ClassPass HQ is in Missoula. Bozeman has fiber internet and a good sized tech community that’s growing by the day. Plus Montana’s outdoor rec access is a great complement to sitting on your computer all day.
client4
Sssssshhhh. Giant bears roam the streets and everyone walks around with guns.
hevelvarik
Wait, you’re OP so this really happened. Well played
Bedon292
Is that supposed to scare me off? It doesn't.
lawnchair_larry
It really doesn’t. But why would you tell the internet if it did?
wasdfff
I cannot stress the fact that sometimes you will have to go to war with 4ft+ of snow and it will not be enjoyable at all.
mtnGoat
I've considered Montana a few times, but flights are such a pain. I'm at a regional airport that only flies to Seattle currently and it's annoying as heck. Montana seems worse, almost no direct flights to anywhere I go frequently.
protomyth
Well, if you go to North Dakota live near Fargo but far enough west of town to get the fast internet. Also, pick a higher area in case the 500 flood returns.

ND has quite a lot of Norwegians. Since I cannot eat potatoes, I fear their cuisine.

dbcurtis
Yust a little lefse vill go a long vay.
protomyth
I was ignorant of the fact the lefse is potato flatbread. I thought it was normal flour. It had butter and sugar and tasted really good. I ended up under a table for a couple of hours. I now avoid all Norwegian cooking, fool me once.
Xcelerate
If it was just me: Lyon, Tokyo, Barcelona, Hokkaido, Auckland, Chile, or somewhere in Norway (summers only). Since it’s not just me, somewhere in the southeastern U.S. close to family.
destitude
Have to look out for all the fracking especially western ND. Looks like a war zone at night with all the flames from burning off the gas.
LowLevelOperand
Saugerties, NY (already moved). Close enough to Boston, NYC, Philly to make day trips if necessary. Cut cost of living by 50% over where I was. Employer has cut 75% of office space in NYC already, holding onto remainder as hot desk space.
petersellers
I'm jealous. My in-laws live in Woodstock and I love visiting that part of NY, especially when it's not Winter.
LowLevelOperand
It's not too bad most winters, just either have 4WD or pick a place with minimal hills / decent plowing.
peteretep
Sad irony that Thailand is definitely an amazing place to relocate, but also it's currently not letting anyone in
stephenr
That’s more of a coincidence than irony.

But as I’ve said in other threads where this comes up: Working from Thailand legally is not the easiest thing in the world, and doing it long term is even harder.

jupiter90000
Either coastal Carolinas or Hawaii. We like living near the ocean and access to good outdoors activities on land. Coastal Carolinas is much more affordable than Hawaii and more access to certain outdoor activities (hunting and freshwater fishing). Also not as isolated as Hawaii.

But Hawaii looks incredible. I hope to visit them both and make a decision when more things are open in both places to get a feel for them.

I think both are probably close to tech wastelands so will need to have employment that allows remote from those states to do it.

triyambakam
I live in Hawaii. I've found that even though most companies are used to working across Pacific through Eastern time zones, they still want me to be online earlier, even though they don't expect someone in California to be online for an East coast morning. It feels unfair.

And you're right, it's definitely a tech wasteland here. And the predominant culture of locals and hippies is anti-intellectual. But it's great to live near the ocean, hiking trails and one of the safest places in the US (if you're not directly in Honolulu)

krageon
> anti-intellectual

What does this mean to you?

triyambakam
It means people don't value curiosity, don't care for science or anything that requires intellectual rigor. You'll never be able to host any kind of technical meetup here, no one would care to come. At least on the outer islands, maybe in Honolulu on O'ahu you could.
kls
If you like Hawaii and the Outer Banks area, you may want to visit the FL Keys if you have not been here. It is almost like you took the two places and blended them together. As well, no better fishing in the world other than maybe the Bahamas. Cost of living here is more than coastal Carolina, but less than Hawaii.

There is not much hunting on the islands, other than iguanas, but there is a big spearfishing community which is a lot like hunting underwater. That being said, there is hog, duck, python and alligator hunting 2 hours up the road in the everglades.

fiftyacorn
do people really go python hunting?
kls
Yes it's become a big sport due to the fact that the State of FL issues bounties where you can claim a cash prize, or a coin, or various other things for proof of a Python kill. Plus you get to keep the snake and sell it to a tanner, who will butcher it and provide you with the meat if you want it. They have dedicated agents now for eradication, but the cash bounties used to be available to the general public. They still offer them from time to time.

I am a hunter (I eat what I kill, I don't kill for the sake of getting the kill), and I will tell you, Python hunting ranks up there as one of the craziest, scariest hunting I have ever done. They just don't die, their nervous system takes over when you shoot them and they are pissed, they know who shot them, and they want payback. They come straight for you and you have to get enough shots in a fast moving snakes head before he gets to you, to stop them. I have literally had to shoot one with my sidearm, as he latched onto my leg and was winding up on me. Python hunting is not for the faint of heart.

https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/python-program#:~:text=An%20a....

nopzor
interesting. what's to stop people from breeding pythons in captivity and gaming the system?
kls
They cost more than the rewards.
mrfusion
The traffic gets so bad in the keys though. Especially on weekends.
kls
Depends on where you live in the Keys, Islamorada is horrible, Marathon can be bad, but the Lower Keys usually flows, it may be at the speed limit or a little under but it does flow. Key West is hit or miss, usually once you get past the triangle, it flows decently and it is only bad half the year.
mdrabla
The main problem i've heard from working remote out of Hawaii is the time difference. but maybe companies are more lenient about that in covid-times
holidayacct
You would have to be insane to move because you've recently been given remote work privileges, especially in the middle of a recession caused by an ongoing pandemic.

Companies provide remote work options all the time and once you move they ask you to come back into the office out of the blue thenlay remote workers off if they cant come back into the office.

The other thing you need to keep in mind is a lot of the places you want to live have people who don't want you living there. If they find out you work remote and don't need anyone they will start screwing around with your life.

If you move and work remote be extremely careful, dont assume you're welcome anywhere in the countrh a lot of places are filled with backwards luddites who hate anyone in STEM fields. Yes, this is a real thing.

bravoetch
Please, stay right where you are.
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keanebean86
> ask you to come back into the office out of the blue

I watched this happen a few jobs ago. New CTO came in and changed everything. Fired all the Business analysts and gutted a few other teams. The few remote workers were told to move back or say goodbye.

throwawaytx_mx
> If they find out you work remote and don't need anyone they will start screwing around with your life.

I've lived in po-dunk farmlands in flyover states and actual swamp towns of 900 residents during my time as a remote software developer, and have never experienced any of this. I don't understand why it would ever come up. Can you elaborate?

nitrogen
If you start a trend and the cost of living goes up, it will cause some tension.
ianai
It would also increase local demand and revenue for whatever businesses they frequent. But nowadays that’s less of a given than ever before for sure.

I will warn you though that if you move from population centers you will soon discover a lack of the stores and entertainment venues from them.

holidayacct
Exactly, a lot of people move into small towns and then unintentionally create tension with locals because they have purchasing power that is 3 to 20x anyone in the surrounding area. Most people don't factor in envy when they move someplace.
giantg2
They also don't realize there could be some cultural differences and push for changes that the original people don't want.
runamok
It's common sense but spending time listening and learning before spouting opinions will probably help smooth relationships with the locals.
giantg2
Absolutely.

On a side note, I have a neighbor that decided to run for local office the first year he moved to our town. I found it interesting that someone would want to run for office before getting to know the people, not to mention that's a pretty quick time to form opinions about the town's politicians to the point of wanting to take their office. I guess it doesn't matter since he wasn't elected.

rootsudo
>The other thing you need to keep in mind is a lot of the places you want to live have people who don't want you living there. If they find out you work remote and don't need anyone they will start screwing around with your life.

>If you move and work remote be extremely careful, dont assume you're welcome anywhere in the countrh a lot of places are filled with backwards luddites who hate anyone in STEM fields. Yes, this is a real thing.

I've never experienced this, especially renting long term 3months + or airbnb for weeks-monthly.

--

>thenlay remote workers off if they cant come back into the office.

Agreed, this is the IBM and Yahoo plan all over again.

bogomipz
>"If you move and work remote be extremely careful, dont assume you're welcome anywhere in the countrh a lot of places are filled with backwards luddites who hate anyone in STEM fields. Yes, this is a real thing."

I imagine if that's your attitude then you are pretty much guaranteed to experience that wherever you choose to move. Even another big city.

giantg2
I agree with this, but would also add that it might not be STEM related. If one moves to an area with a cultural views different from their own, they may see some backlash, especially if they are pushing for changes or show support for those changes (like political bumper stickers).
zarkov99
Do you have personal experience with the Luddite situation? Could you elaborate how you got that view?
80mph
You would have to be insane to move because you've recently been given remote work privileges, especially in the middle of a recession caused by an ongoing pandemic.

This is why I'm staying put in San Jose, at least for now.

throwaway93386
Chattanooga most likely. My company is doing 85% base salary with no adjustment to RSUs. Tennessee is a great place to save money due to 1) no state income tax, 2) no capital gains taxes, and 3) low cost of living. I estimate I’ll be able to save ~$100k more per year than I currently am in the Bay Area. Plus Chattanooga is known for having some of the fastest internet in the country, rolled out by the city a few years ago. Signal Mountain has great schools for when my kids are older, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s a naturally beautiful place as well (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/66/c2/24/66c22405229f125fea23...).

I’d really like to move to Asheville or Charleston, but the taxes make it a bit too much of a premium over Chattanooga.

triyambakam
Saving 100k more! Wow, that's an impressive difference.
throwaway93386
To be fair, a lot of that is due to us paying much more than we should be at the moment for a nice two bedroom apartment for our family.
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archon
Chattanooga and EPB (our aforementioned fast internet) are both pretty awesome. I see a definite uptick in people from out of state moving here over the past 6 months, which is stretching the area's housing supply. We also had a tornado come through in April and damage or destroy several hundred homes. So if you do end up moving here, just beware the housing market is a little hectic at the moment.
throwaway93386
I’m sorry to hear about the tornado. That’s devastating. I hope the repair efforts are going well.
simonebrunozzi
What? No Capital gains taxes? Sounds too good to be true. Can you elaborate more?

Edit: California doesn't distinguish between income and capital gain. Federal, though, you would still have to pay even if you go to Tennessee, right?

desdiv
He meant no Tennessee state capital gains taxes. You still have the Federal capital gains taxes.
RemoteStartup1
Sounds Awesome! How did you decide to move to Chattanooga? Where can I learn more?
beardedetim
Wife and I chose to move back to Knoxville a year or two ago for similar reasons. Have looked at moving to NC or GA but the extra taxes don't make it that appealing.

I think if I hadn't known Knoxville before, I'd have chosen Chatt due to the internet and vibe. But I can't complain as I've always loved Knoxville.

giantg2
I've thought about eastern TN as a place to move. I would prefer a slightly cooler climate though. Eastern KY would be good for me, but they don't have the same tax benefits. It's tough to find a place that checks all the right boxes. I guess it really doesn't matter for me because my wife won't move anyways.
kleinsch
Company offered permanent remote work, thought through career trade offs and whether we wanted to stay in the Bay Area forever.

Picked suburbs between Denver and Boulder. Good tech jobs, similar sunshine and outdoor activities as the Bay Area (but with snow also! we’ll see how that goes), affordable housing and better COL.

maximp
Welcome to Westminster?
ckdarby
Was working in Toronto, covid19 happened, moved back to Montreal, and work agreed I could permanently stay there even after covid19.
newguy1234
Moved to Reno, NV. Already sold all my property in the bay area and went back to renting. No state income tax in NV! and we have lake tahoe close by. I sold my property because I'm figuring that the bay area is going to be less appealing from a property investment stand point, so I cashed out while prices are still high.

I honestly don't see companies going back to in-office stuff, at least not as much as it was in the past. I could see meetings and stuff like that being in-person. My company has already basically transitioned to 100% online and our productivity has increased overall so no way we are going back to in-office working exclusively.

laluser
What are you going to do if your company makes an adjusted cost of living to your compensation? My company is already advising people to come back near our address due to tax reasons.
triyambakam
> What are you going to do if your company makes an adjusted cost of living to your compensation?

Move to Hawaii? :)

treve
If you get a cost of living adjustment, you still live in a place with much lower cost of living which gives you way more flexibility.

If 50% of income goes to rent, you burn right through your savings if you want some time off.

simonebrunozzi
Or, you change jobs :)
mtnGoat
I would file my resignation immediately if my employer tried to do "regional" pay. An employee is worth what they are worth, locale shouldn't effect that.
treve
What's your definition of 'worth' though. Dev salaries are way inflated in very specific regions due to high demand and low supply. If location becomes less important, salaries will normalize... which means down if you're from the Bay area.
mtnGoat
I'm all for normalizing pay, then all the talent won't go to the Bay, stack cash, then move back to middle America? Worth it determined by the market, of course.
treve
Yeah, I don't want to be an employee all my life.
[dead] coffeemaniac
Some companies will base your new salary on "the market" for software developers in that area -- they are making a point of not including CoL in this calculation. So this is a good strategy if you're moving to another large software hub, less so if you're moving to a suburb right outside one.
bradlys
Reno is a very big change... Did you grow up there or? I’ve never really met anyone who said they were moving to Reno and works in tech (especially from the Bay Area).

Also, how much did you sell in the Bay? I’m just kinda like... “why live in Reno if you sold Bay Area property and therefore could easily buy a house in Lake Tahoe proper...”

ajdecon
I was already remote, but I’m moving from Seattle to Denver.

Combination of family and a more favorable climate. The somewhat lower cost of living doesn’t hurt, but it’s not like Denver is cheap.

AnimalMuppet
What about the climate in Denver is better than Seattle? Less rain, or at least rain less often? (Not saying you're wrong, I just wonder.)
monocasa
Denver only has 30 to 40 days a year without at least partial sun.
trngmchn
300ish days of sunshine a year in Denver versus about half that in Seattle.
lawnchair_larry
And cold as hell winter 5 months of the year.
pcmoney
Yes its freezing and icy for 7 months actually.
monocasa
I'd take 20F in Colorado over 50F on the east coast anyday. The dry air insulates amazingly.
cjenkins
I'll second that. The lack of humidity really helps keep things comfortable outside when it is cold. That specific heat of water is killer in a Midwest winter.

Low humidity is also why we get the really powdery snow that is great for skiing.

pcmoney
Dude, no. Its always miserable. I have lived in CO for over 30 years and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Worst place ever.
pcmoney
No East coast is better. If you want dry, check out Arizona or New Mexico.
maximp
I just spent my first winter in Boulder (moved from NYC) and thought the winter was incredibly mild. All my friends and family back home kept asking how I was handling the cold, but I thought it was worlds better than slushy, frigid NYC.
enraged_camel
Cold is okay as long as you're prepared for it. Wet is annoying even if you're prepared for it.
inson
The best summer in north west is in Seattle.
elevenoh
hence why they all vacation in Vancouver, BC, right? ;)
mtnGoat
Lived here my whole life, don't know anyone who goes to Van for the summer. Must be a new thing?
inson
oh Canadians usually come to Seattle or to hike in the mountains of Washington state :)
Linuturk
I'm actually picking between Seattle and Denver. What about the climate is better between the two?
maerF0x0
Pick Seattle if you like rain and Denver if you like skin cream/ moisturizer
elevenoh
Seattle if you never want to deal with icey lanes/roads.
jmknoll
Staying in Brooklyn, but without a commute. New York is still a nice place to live, and rent prices seem to have come down 10-20%.

Let’s see how things are looking come winter though. Could be pretty grim without bars/restaurants to go to.

jdpigeon
In Brooklyn too and this summer's been great. Don't have to take the subway. All the bars and restaurants have patios, and my friends and I can get together for hikes and BBQs every weekend. However, I'm worried the QoL is gonna tank once the weather stops being so nice because I every one of these pandemic-resistant activies is weather-dependent
AndrewUnmuted
Wow - are we living in the same borough? Brooklyn has been a nightmare for me. It's gone downhill fast in my area - horrifyingly dirty streets and sidewalks, junkies laying around everywhere, there's even a pile of stolen belts being watched over by homeless people on my corner. This is in an area where a 3BR apt is at least $3k/month.

I can't wait to get out. Been here ten years, working remotely for the past five. Can't really justify it anymore unless things improve quickly. Got randomly assaulted outside my own building a few weeks back - the guy didn't even try to take anything. Just punched me in the face five times and ran off. I went through a similar wave in the late 80s as a kid, I don't like the looks of all this.

It may get bad for you quickly as well. Consider being ready with a plan B.

et2o
What neighborhood?
throw_this_one
What do you think the reason is? I assumed this would happen.
throw_this_one
It's gonna be terrible once November comes. I'm not renewing my lease, just gonna go home and live with the parents, buy a car with the savings and drive around, camp, airbnb. Chill. save a ton, etc.
webdev23
cause of the election?
throw_this_one
No just because the weather. In the winter, all the best stuff to do in NYC (indoor cozy dates, raves, jazz bar, museum, parties) are not gonna be happening much at all.

What's the point of paying 2k+ to be there if you're just gonna sit inside all day.

throwaway-blr
Haven't moved yet but I am planning. Hopefully somewhere warm where the cold/moisture/pollen triggered allergies don't have me pinned for months every year.

I am in Bangalore so I guess I'd be Hyderabad or Chennai. On the plus side I will also get rid of atrocious rents and traffic of Bangalore.

1-2 year plan also involves exploring options outside India. Somewhere where if something like COVID-19 hits again I won't need a politician's phone call, or a powerful bureaucrat relative's clout to get even a test done (though I've neither), let alone a hospital bed. Yeah, it's that bad here.

Maybe years/months later when real numbers come out (if it happens) the world will see on what scale it was going on in India. Is there a word for this - something like a genocide but not really genocide in literal sense?

[NSFW/L] https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/andhra-pradesh-shocker...

ilaksh
I am not who you are asking about because I went almost completely remote like ten years ago.

I am from San Diego. It took me awhile but I eventually got the courage and circumstances to move to Tijuana a few years ago. I couldn't really afford to stay in the US anyway unless I got a different job.

Its a tiny startup and very low pay but I have plenty of energy on the weekends etc. for my own projects and it's low stress. Also have the ocean a block away and convenience store downstairs and very low rent.

If I had a real salary I would probably move back to the US though. Somewhere that they don't turn the water off multiple times during the summer.