I've been here just over a decade at this point, I come from Michigan originally. I specialize in iOS, but have had a long string of startup jobs so I can mix it up and get things done in a handful of languages.

getting here -- I got lucky honestly: had one friend who lived here when I was finishing school, who let me crash on his couch and introduced me to some friends of his during that week. I interviewed with a bunch of companies trying as a remote intern with the option to become full time later and one of them was kind enough to give me a shot. I swapped jobs every few years, picking up a broad set of skills on a variety of front and backends that are really useful and sort of rare. I've been at my current job for about 4 years -- my first larger company, which went public during my tenure and has been very good to me.

social dynamics -- I'm on the edge of a few friend groups, wouldn't call myself core to any of them but I have plenty of friends. Getting married to a woman I met here in SF 5 or 6 years ago, she also moved here for tech.

personal connection -- I've tried to not work on anything where I feel like people are actively being exploited. I also try to chase jobs that I think are good for the world, which is a real luxury imo. I also really like programming cuz it exercises the creative and logical parts of my brain.

perceptions -- I was dumb enough to think all of California was like LA, big wake up moment when I realized it's not usually all that warm here. I think it certainly has problems, especially in the last few years the city has gotten excessively dirty and there's so many (more) people that could use a helping hand. There's also a decent size of the population who hate techies, sometimes for valid reasons and that's rough from time to time. I don't know what to do about it, I just try not to be actively part of the problem and help where I can.

unique experiences -- too many haha. Giant burning man parties in warehouses, people pooping standing up in mid afternoon, lifting a car off a lady one time with a crowd of folks, so many great meals. you can find whatever you want in SF, it's a really great city.

industry at large -- I honestly don't know. Some things change, but others jsut seem cyclical. Folks have been wondering when the bubble will pop for the Whole time I've lived here. When I got here Kevin Rose was the meme, now it's Elon Musk. I don't understand how our housing prices can continue to go up and still make a city that's livable for more than just folks making six figure salaries. I don't think tech's going away ever, but I don't know if the world can tolerate things as they are now either.