Ask HN: The Essential Silicon Valley?

when?

What you're looking for isn't exactly a tourist attraction.

Don't miss the Computer History Museum, near Moffett Field.

There's nothing hugely interesting posted yet, but SDForum http://www.sdforum.com/ often has interesting events with lots of networking opportunities. One big advantage is that many conferences are here - for example Google I/O just one week before you arrive, which is something to keep in mind if you have not booked tickets. I have hear that the four seasons in palo alto gets various luminaries staying there, but that could simply be a vicious rumor. You should visit Moffett Field itself - I work there, all you need to get in is a government ID. They'll ask you where you are going - tell them to building 19, it is where all the contractors go and they will just wave you through - though I think telling them you want to see hanger one is equally valid. If you ask, the guard will also get you a map that could point you there. It's more interesting for historical reasons than anything else, fyi. You can't get back to ames, though. I guess one advantage is the community of developers and investors that happen to be around here, which is something that is difficult to see on a short visit. For coffee in mountain view I recommend red rock and blue bottle in SF, barefoot down further south in san jose. The bars in mountain view and sunnyvale are not worth visiting, some in palo alto may be and definitely downtown SF - check yelp for details.

There's quite a bit of Silicon Valley in my book: The Geek Atlas. http://oreilly.twi.bz/a

There are a lot of interesting places to visit in the valley but I am not sure you'll be able to get a snapshot of the valley advantage in a few days. The valley advantage is more about the connections you build in the course of living and working there.

If you attend popular geek events though, you might get a good approximation. Stanford always has something interesting. Last time I was there, a CS class was hosting some very interesting guest lecturers. I emailed the prof asking him if I could attend (as a GT student at that time) and he said sure.

Non geeky recommendation: Half moon bay, it's a nice beach

Avoid at all costs: The tilted / haunted house (called something like that) - Fake tourist spot, highly boring and a waste of time.

plan the trip around big events, such as Google I/O. I'm not entirely sure you'll be able to just come here and meet people on the streets and get the most out of it. I feel the advantage is being able to meet with people casually because you're all local, without needing to go through the formalities of a serious meeting that you need to plan for.

Take some time to visit San Francisco and the coast for some nice views and other fun things as well =)

SF has a good community of geeks. DoloresLabs and NoiseBridge are at 83 Weise, near 16th street and Mission. And I host an open hacker house every Wednesday from 8am to 6pm: archivd.com/open-hacker-house

But I would not try to schedule in too much if you only have a few days. Hang loose and see what comes up.

Time the trip to go to SHDH.

The advantage the Valley has isn't so much a collection of discrete items, it's more of a gestalt.

I'm a believer in geography influencing thought, so let's start there. The weather is fantastic and there are plenty of awesome things to do all year. Since it'll be summer, try driving up Page Mill and one way or another along Skyline, find someplace to hike. Windy Hill Summit or Russian Ridge would both be good, as they give a great overlook of the area. On a clear day, you can see the ocean, San Jose, and San Francisco from Russian Ridge. On your way out, get lost in the streets of Woodside to get a good sense of just how much wealth has been accumulated here. Hop on 280 North, and head up to San Francisco, get a burrito in the Mission, hang out in Golden Gate Park, watch the sun set from Battery Spencer (http://amid.st/p1197), etc. Spend some time wine tasting in Napa or Sonoma (or Cupertino, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz, etc). Wander around the Stanford Campus (although Spring Quarter will be just ending). My point is, people enjoy living here. There's plenty to do, lots of little communities with their own character, and the weather is great. In my view, that's a huge part of the advantage.

As far as specific places... try Coupa Café (http://amid.st/p61) in Palo Alto. On weekdays, I usually see a few people pitching ideas, working on iPhone/web/whatever apps, professors having spirited discussions, etc. Most of the area around University Ave is good for that. Buck's of Woodside (http://amid.st/p1) or Sundance (http://amid.st/p1190) are good places to spot VC's, but you'd have to know who's a VC to see them. The Four Seasons (http://amid.st/p1193) in East Palo Alto is usually empty. Garden Court (http://amid.st/p1192) is a little more central and usually a little more happening hotel-wise, although there are several other places in downtown that are good.

Most of the big VC firms are either on Sand Hill Road or on Middlefield in Menlo Park, although there are several in downtown Palo Alto. Do a search for "venture capital" in Google Maps, then zoom in on Palo Alto to get a good idea of where to drive if you just want to see where things are at.

You'll be in town the same time as Apple's WWDC in San Francisco (http://developer.apple.com/WWDC/). You may want to see if there are any parties you can crash (there will be... check Upcoming.org). Or, just hang out at The Chieftain (http://amid.st/p1183), The Tempest (http://amid.st/p1189), The Thirsty Bear (http://amid.st/p1191) [surprisingly, -not- a gay bar], etc. There is usually a party during WWDC on the weeknights at 111 Minna (http://amid.st/p1194), although there may be guest lists (check Upcoming).

Hackerdojo (a hacker space I'm involved in starting) should be open by then. Come check it out: http://hackerdojo.pbworks.com/

I could probably go on. Shameless plug: check out my places on Amidst for more specific places in the area: http://amid.st/~andrew

Really, the best way to figure it out is to live here.

The "classic SV" along the south-western corner of the bay (Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park) dates from the old days (the '60s to the late '80s). Back then, all the VCs lived up north in urban San Francisco, and all the startup employees lived in auto-oriented suburbs down there.

Eventually many VCs moved their offices south, but nowadays more and more of the startups are actually in San Francisco. The SF lifestyle of easy walkability, little dependence on cars, vastly better restaurants, bars, shops, and entertainment, and all the other advantages of a dense city, appeal more to many of the current generation of hackers, and make SF more characteristic of contemporary startups than the old historic corridor located an hour south.

One of the interesting sights every morning now in San Francisco are all the private wifi-equipped coaches picking up employees for their free hour ride down to Google, Microsoft SVC, and other mega-employers located on large campuses in SV. Those employees, like startup founders, increasingly prefer to live in SF (and refuse to commute by car for two hours a day).

The "valley advantage" is much the same in both areas, and there's a fair amount of interchange, but the two areas are very different, and they are far enough apart to discourage casual traveling between them. Lots of people who live down in the suburbs of the old SV don't really feel comfortable anywhere in SF except Moscone Center for WWDC (and may only come up to the city once a year). Lots of people who live in SF can't imagine living in the upscale suburbs down south where you have to get in a car to go anywhere at all (and they may only go down to Stanford a few times a year).

But both are very interesting areas, and both have good people. For the "classic SV", look in the towns along the western hills from Cupertino up to Menlo Park; for the "contemporary SV" look around SF.